ANT DEVELOPMENT

Development of the wood ant- formica rufa.

Ants are part of insects with complete metamorphosis. They go through four life stages : egg, larva, nymph and adult. The miniscule eggs, white or yellowish hatch from two to six weeks after the egg-laying and give birth to white larvae, without legs and immobile. After a time varying from a few weeks to several months, the larvae transform themselves into nymphes, often envelopped in a cocoon secreted at the end of the larval stage. At last, adults succede to the nymphal stage.

Formica rufa > Wood ant > Ant > Formicid > Hymenoptera > Insect > Arthropod