Technomyrmex difficilis. Ants, like butterflies, have complete metamorphosis. They pass through egg, larva, and pupa phases on the way to maturity, all visible in this nest of white-footed ants. St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa
An ant worker tends to brood in the fungus garden. Note how the eggs and larvae are embedded within the fluffy white hyphae of the fungus. Parque Soberania, Panama; Laboratory colony at the University of Texas
A characteristically orange brood pile of the odorous house ant, Tapinoma sessile. Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA.