Acanthoponera goeldii

Dealate queen. Monte Verde, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Acropyga goeldii

Acropyga is so dependent on mealybug associates that young queens carry a bug on their dispersal flights to successfully start a new colony. Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Azteca instabilis

Azteca colonies typically produce a steady stream of winged queens throughout the season, essentially saturating the environment with propagules to colonize any unclaimed territory in the forest canopy. This queen came to a light trap in Armenia, Cayo District, Belize. Thanks to Jack Longino for the species ID.

Azteca ithsmica

A Cecropia ant queen searches for a suitable entry point on a Cecropia trunk. Coclé, Panama

Azteca ithsmica

Taking a break from excavating a nest entrance hole, a young Azteca isthmica queen cleans herself. Coclé, Panama

Azteca

The swollen stem of a Cordia nodosa plant houses a symbiotic colony of Azteca ants. The ants protect the plant from herbivores in exchange for lodging. The large ant at center is the queen. Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador

Colobopsis papago

Colobopsis papago, alate queen Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

A queen leafcutter ant (Acromyrmex versicolor) falls to the ground surrounded by multiple males attempting to mate with her. Leafcutter females typically mate with many males. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

After mating, a young leafcutter ant queen sheds her wings. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

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

Acromyrmex versicolor

Acromyrmex versicolor foundress queens in an incipient fungus garden. This species is normally polygynous during the colony founding stage, but reverts to single-queen colonies after the first workers emerge. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex versicolor

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

Acropyga epedana

Mating Acropyga ants, the queen carrying a mealybug in her mandibles. Acropyga live nearly entirely by consuming secretions of root-feeding mealybugs, and the mealybugs depend on the ants for dispersal and protection. When young queen ants leave the nest to mate and start new colonies, they take a mealybug with them. Portal, Arizona, USA

Aphaenogaster tennessensis

Portrait of a social parasite, Aphaenogaster tennesseensis. Urbana, Illinois, USA

Aphaenogaster picea

A young Aphaenogaster picea foundress queen with her first batch of eggs. South Bristol, New York, USA

Aphaenogaster fulva

Worker, queen, and brood of an eastern woodland Aphaenogaster species. South Bristol, New York, USA

Aphaenogaster tennesseensis

This parasitic Aphaenogaster tennesseensis queen has just penetrated a nest of her host species, Aphaenogaster rudis. She is highly attractive to her victims, who unknowingly tend her and begin raising her eggs as their own. The original host queen killed, this colony will gradually turn into a full nest of A. tennesseensis. Manhattan, Kansas, USA

Socially parasitic ants are usually discernable by their relatively small queens, as ants that start new colonies by infiltrating existing nests do not need large body reserves. The queen of Aphaenogaster tennesseensis- a temporary nest-founding parasite of several other woodland Aphaenogaster- is scarcely larger than her own workers. Urbana, Illinois, USA

Atta texana

Texas likes big, and some of the biggest native Texan ants are queen leafcutter ants, Atta texana. Here is one on my thumb after an early morning mating flight. Austin, Texas, USA.

A queen leafcutter ant (Atta texana) dwarfs her daughter workers. Captive colony at the University of Texas

Atta texana

A queen leafcutter ant dwarfs her daughter workers. Captive colony at the University of Texas

Atta texana

A queen leafcutter ant dwarfs her daughter workers. Captive colony at the University of Texas

Attaphila fungicola & Atta texana

A tiny ant cockroach, Attaphila fungicola, hitches a ride aboard a winged queen. Austin, Texas, USA.

Aphaenogaster occidentalis

Queen and workers. This species is one of the most common ants in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Blodgett Forest, California, USA

Bothroponera

This photo shows the major components of an ant colony: the queen (lower left) and a winged male (upper left) among workers and brood. Kibale Forest, Uganda