![ants that swarm queen ant ants that swarm queen ant](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/ad_212197548.jpg)
In a colony, some ants may be unrelated to the queen(s), such as when a brood is captured in a raid and raised as the colony's own. Because ant social structure is very complex and individual ants are relatively simple, an ant colony can be thought of as a single organism, and the individual ants as cells or limbs of the organism, as the individuals can rarely survive on their own. Once a colony is established, the worker ants meet the queen's needs such as giving her food and disposing of her waste. Leafcutter ant ( Atta colombica) queen with larvae and workers on substrate At this stage, the winged female ants are sometimes known as "princess ants". When resources are low, all larvae will develop into female worker ants however, if the parent of a sexually reproducing colony has a plentiful supply of food, some of the larvae will receive better nourishment than others, and develop into winged, sexually mature female ants destined to leave the colony. During this stage, the level of care and nourishment the larvae receive will determine their eventual adult form. The larvae have no legs but are capable of some minor movement, such as bending their head toward a food source when fed. Ants go through four stages of development: egg, larva, pupa (sometimes cocoon, called metamorphosis depending on the species) and adult.