Queen ant

A queen ant is an adult, reproducing female ant in an ant colony; generally she will be the mother of all the other ants in that colony. Some female ants do not need to mate to produce offspring, reproducing through asexualparthenogenesis or cloning, and all of those offspring will be female. Others, like those in the genus Crematogaster, undergo mating in a nuptial flight. Ant offspring develop from larvae specially fed in order to become sexually mature among most species. Depending on the species, there can be either a single mother queen, or potentially, hundreds of fertile queens in some species. Queen ants have one of the longest life-spans of any known insect – up to 30 years.[1] A queen of Lasius niger was held in captivity by English ant-lover who calls himself Myrm for 5 years; also a Pogonomyrmex owyheei has a maximum estimated longevity of 30 years in the field.[1]

Early life:
When conditions are hot and humid after rain and there is minimal wind, masses of winged sexually reproducing ants or "flying ants" will leave their parent nest and take flight.[4] The mating flights occur simultaneously in all ant nests of the particular species. The female "queen" ants will fly a long distance, during which they will mate with at least one winged male from another nest. He transfers sperm to the seminal receptacle of the queen and then dies. Once mated, the "queen" will attempt to find a suitable area to start a colony and, once found, detach her wings.[5]