Ant Life Cycle Printable

This Ant Life Cycle printable is young student-friendly, colorful, and easy to understand.

Have your child learning about these tiny creepy crawlies with this free printable that features information all about the life cycle of an ant. The life cycle of the ant consists of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Fertilized eggs produce female ants (queens, workers, or soldiers); unfertilized eggs produce male ants.

Egg: Ant eggs are oval shaped and tiny (they are on the order of 1 mm long, but the queen’s egg is many times larger).

Larva: The worm-like larvae have no eyes and no legs; they eat food regurgitated by adult ants. The larvae molt (shed their skin) many times as they increase in size.

Pupa: After reaching a certain size, the larva spins a silk-like cocoon around itself (against a solid object, like the wall of the chamber) and pupates. During this time the body metamorphoses (changes) into its adult form.

Adult: The pupa emerges as an adult. The entire life cycle usually lasts from 6 to 10 weeks. Some queens can live over 15 years, and some workers can live for up to 7 years.

Print as a poster for a classroom or study space, or use as a handout in science class.