<P> The term "queen" is not particularly apt, as the queen ant has very little control over the colony as a whole . She has no known authority or decision - making control; instead her sole function is to reproduce . Therefore, the queen is best understood as the reproductive element of a colony rather than a leader . Once a colony is established, the worker ants meet the queen's needs such as giving her food and disposing of her waste . Because ant social structure is very complex and individual ants are relatively simple, an ant colony can be thought of as a single organism, and the individual ants as cells or limbs of the organism, as the individuals can rarely survive on their own . In a colony some ants may be unrelated to the queen (s), such as when a brood is captured in a raid and raised as the colony's own . </P> <P> Once the colony has established itself, the queen ant will lay eggs continuously . Among species that reproduce sexually, the queen selectively uses the sperm cells retained from the nuptial flight, laying fertile or unfertile eggs depending upon the cyclic needs of the colony; the sex of each individual ant is determined by whether or not the egg is fertilized . The fertile eggs become female worker ants and unfertilized eggs develop as males; if the fertilized eggs and pupae are well - nurtured, they potentially become queens . </P> <P> This system of sex determination, haplodiploidy, is generally true for all Hymenoptera--ants, bees, and wasps . However, a few ant species do not reproduce sexually and members of these clonal colonies are all female . </P>

Where does the queen ant live in the nest