Adetomyrma goblin

The brood nest of Adetomyrma dracula ants showing larvae of varying age. Madagascar; captive lab colony photographed at the California Academy of Sciences

Pseudomyrmex gracilis

Ants, like butterflies, have complete metamorphosis. They pass through egg, larva, and pupa stages prior to reaching adulthood. Pseudomyrmex gracilis. Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA

Pseudomyrmex gracilis

The life cycle of a twig ant. Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA

Oecophylla smaragdina

Metamorphosis in the green tree ant Oecophylla smaragdina. Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Inside the leaf nest of Oecophylla smaragdina weaver ants. Note the two size classes of worker. Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Acromyrmex versicolor

A Desert Leafcutter queen (Acromyrmex versicolor) tends to larvae in an incipient fungus garden. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

The birth of an ant-fungus garden, with newly-laid ant eggs and the early stages of fungal growth. Leaf-cutting ant colonies subsist entirely on their cultivated fungus. (Acromyrmex versicolor) Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

Young fungus-growing ant queens such as this Acromyrmex versicolor leave the established fungus gardens of their parent colonies to start new nests. These queens carry with them a pellet of fungal inoculum in a small pouch in their mouthparts, and upon excavating a new nest they expel and fertilize the pellet, shown here with two freshly-laid ant eggs. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

A young leafcutter ant queen (Acromyrmex versicolor) with her eggs and incipient fungus garden. Tucson, Arizona, USA

The brood nest of Adetomyrma goblin dracula ants. Madagascar; captive lab colony photographed at the California Academy of Sciences

An Adetomyrma goblin worker carries a larva. Madagascar; captive lab colony photographed at the California Academy of Sciences

A feeding frenzy in an Adetomyrma goblin colony. A paradox of ant biology is that adult ants cannot consume solid food, while the larvae can. Larvae are essential for colony nutrition, more than just future adults, digesting proteinaceous food and passing it on in liquid form to the adults. Most ant species have evolved a simple mechanism for the transfer of liquid food by regurgitation (trophallaxis), but a few truly ancient lineages of ants, including the Adetomyrma pictured here, predate trophallaxis. Instead, the adults chew holes in the larval skins and drink the hemolymph directly. Larvae are apparently unharmed by the procedure, although the practice has earned these insects the common name "dracula ants". Madagascar; captive lab colony photographed at the California Academy of Sciences

The long necks of Adetomyrma larvae provide great flexibility for reaching the tasty innards of prey insects that the adults bring back to the nest. Madagascar; captive lab colony photographed at the California Academy of Sciences

Amblyopone australis, cocoons and adults in the brood nest. Many species in the ancient ant subfamily Amblyoponinae have the characteristically yellow cocoons. Yandoit, Victoria, Australia

Anochetus paripungens, worker trap-jaw ant with pupa. The yellow color of the silken cocoon is typical for ants in the subfamily Ponerinae. Northern Territory, Australia

Arnoldius sp. with larvae in the brood nest. Adelaide, South Australia

Aphaenogaster tennesseensis with eggs and young larvae. The difference in color between the two adult ants is due to their age, as ants darken over time. Urbana, Illinois, USA

Metamorphosis in Aphaenogaster picea. South Bristol, New York, USA

The hollow stem of a Cecropia tree houses a colony of fierce Azteca alfari ants. Here, a worker walks across a pile of maturing pupae. Gamboa, Panama

Brachymyrmex patagonicus with pupae in the brood nest. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Anoplolepis gracilipes

A yellow crazy ant with worker cocoons in the brood nest. Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

Camponotus (Colobopsis) impressus with a pupa. Note the differences in size and shape between major and minor workers. Laboratory colony at the University of Central Florida, USA

Camponotus sansabeanus

A young foundress queen with her first eggs. Austin, Texas, USA.

Camponotus sansabeanus

A worker ant tends to young larvae in the brood nest. Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Texas, USA.

Camponotus sansabeanus

A pile of spring eggs with an attendant minor worker. Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Texas, USA.