A colony of ants is composed of a queen ant, male ants, and worker ants. The queen ant lays eggs while the worker ants look after and maintain the colony. A worker ant is sterile. Worker ants are responsible for food collection, nurturing of the young, and defends the colony from predators and other enemies. The worker ants maintain the cleanliness of the colony by taking out the rubbish from the ant nest. This rubbish is thrown in a special dump site outside the ant's nest.

The queen ant and male ants come out of their nest, usually on a warm, late summer, to mate. They have wings in order for them to fly out in the air to procreate. After they mate, the male ants will die. The queen ant, on the other hand, hibernates in the ground during winter and then starts laying eggs come spring. Young larvae hatch from the eggs after a few weeks. Before changing into an adult ant, the ant larvae spin themselves into a light brown case. This is called an ant pupa. The queen ant will then cut the ant pupa open when it is ready to hatch. A new ant emerges. The whole process is called metamorphosis.

You can create your own ant colony by making an artificial breeding ground for ants in a special transparent container. You can use microscopes to magnify the features of each member of the ant colony.