Neivamyrmex opacithorax army ant queen with a retinue of workers. Unlike most queen ants which are born with wings for dispersal and large eyes for visual navigation, army ant queens are always wingless and have greatly reduced eyes. Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, USA

A queen Neivamyrmex opacithorax army ant. Her enormous abdomen houses ovaries for egg production. Queen army ants are among the most fecund of all insects, as army ant colonies may have tens or hundreds of thousands of worker ants (such as the small ant pictured riding on top) and the reproduction is the work of a single mother queen. Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, USA

A male army ant during a nighttime nest emigration of Neivamyrmex nigrescens. Portal, Arizona, USA