An
ant colony, also called a
formicary. is the basic family unit around which
ants organize their lifecycle. Ant colonies are
eusocial, and are very much like those found in other social
Hymenoptera, though the various groups of these developed sociality independently through
convergent evolution. The typical colony consists of one or more
egg-laying queens, a large number of sterile females ("workers") and, seasonally, a large number of winged sexual males and females. Periodically, swarms of the winged sexuals (known as
alates) depart the nest in great nuptial flights. The males die shortly thereafter, along with most of the females. A small percentage of the females survive to initiate new nests.