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Story: Ants

Worker ants and pupae

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Worker ants and pupae

These native worker ants are feeding pupae (the yellow tubes) in their underground nest. Many worker ants specialise in feeding the colony’s larvae and pupae. As long as enough food is being brought in, more larvae and pupae can be fed, and the colony can keep reproducing indefinitely.

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Natural Sciences Image Library of New Zealand

Reference: In0717Smt

by Peter E. Smith

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How to cite this page

John Early, Ants – Native species, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/12813/worker-ants-and-pupae (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by John Early, published 1 March 2009, updated 3 August 2015.