Ant babies are born when the queen ant lays eggs, which hatch into larvae.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
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Egg Laying: The queen ant, and sometimes other fertile females in the colony, are responsible for laying eggs. These eggs are typically small, oval, and whitish.
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Larval Stage: Once the egg hatches, a larva emerges. The ant larva looks like a small, white, legless grub or worm. It has a soft body and a small head. The larvae are entirely dependent on the worker ants for food and care.
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Feeding and Growth: Worker ants diligently feed the larvae, providing them with nutrients necessary for growth. Larvae eat almost constantly, molting (shedding their skin) several times as they grow larger.
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Pupal Stage: After reaching a certain size, the larva enters the pupal stage. The larva spins a silken cocoon (in some species) around itself or may remain naked. Inside the cocoon (or exposed), the larva undergoes metamorphosis, transforming into an adult ant.
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Emergence: Once the metamorphosis is complete, a fully formed adult ant emerges from the pupal case (or cocoon). At first, the newly emerged ant is often pale and soft, gradually darkening and hardening over a few days.
Therefore, the "birth" of an ant involves the queen laying an egg that hatches into a larva, which then develops through the pupal stage into an adult ant.
