This story appears in the June 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine. It’s good to be the queen—the ant queen, that is—because mating does wonders for her immune system. When exposure ...

The black garden queen (Lasius niger) ant plays a crucial role in the survival and growth of her colony. As the sole reproducer, she is responsible for laying thousands of eggs throughout her life ...

CHILD #1:How would an ant be born? ADAM:How would an ant be born? Well inside a colony there's a queen, she's a really big ant and she lays all the eggs that produce all of the ants in the colony.

NARRATOR:'In a leafcutter colony there is a queen ant, and she is much bigger than the other ants. And her job is to lay eggs. NARRATOR:'Then there are lots of different types of worker ant.