Considered "social" insects because they usually live in large colonies, individual ant colony members are called either "reproductives" or "workers."

Reproductives, known as queens and kings, produce all the eggs from which the colony obtains its new members. Some ant species have only one queen per colony while others can have multiple queens. New colonies are produced through a process known as "swarming," which occurs when a mature colony produces winged kings and queens. These fly out and mate to begin the new colony.

Worker ants forage for food, tend to the queen and the young, and defend the colony from outside enemies. Although most ant species are rather adaptable, they generally have preferred food source, such as sweets, rather than protein or oils.

Ants are unique organisms in that they trail one another once they find a food source. On finding the bait, they will keep feeding on it and will communicate with others to feed on the same source.