last updated 12.Nov.2007

Most ants in a colony are female, but in most ant species the vast majority are sterile worker ants incapable of reproduction.  Those females that are fertile are often called queens, and their primary role in the colony is egg-laying.  Queens are usually morphologically different from workers.  They have greatly enlarged mid-sections to hold the wings and flight muscles that carry them on their mating flights and to new nest sites, and their large abdomens are specialized for egg production.