Ants

Ants are social insects, closely related to wasps and bees.  They live in colonies of about 100 to over one million ants.  Their nests are a series of tunnels and chambers where they care for their eggs and larvae.  New Zealand has 9 species of native ant and about 24 species of introduced ants.  New species keep arriving, such as the Argentine ant and the Red imported fire ant.  Some ants can bite and sting.

There are different sorts or castes of ants; males, queens (females), and workers.  Workers have no wings, and there are more of this caste than any of the others.  They do most of the feeding, building and defending of the colony.  During the life cycle, males and queens with wings are produced.  In most species they fly in swarms and mate in flight.  This process helps a species to spread to new areas.