Ant colonies usually start small. Here a young bull ant queen (Myrmecia pyriformis) tends to a larva in her incipient nest. Yandoit, Victoria, Australia
A foundress trap-jaw ant queen with her first eggs and larvae nesting in a rock crevice in a Belizean rainforest. Armenia, Cayo District, Belize.
A Pheidole foundress queen with her first eggs. Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador