Ant research. Numbered ants (Dinoponera quadriceps) from Brazil tending their young in a compartment of an artificial plaster nest. Ants are highly-organized social insects with a four stage life cycle. The single queen ant (not seen) lays tiny yellow eggs (seen at upper centre) which hatch into white larvae, or grubs (lower right). After a period of feeding the larvae become brown pupae as they develop into adults. The numbers allow individual ants to be identified easily. Photographed at the Laboratoire d'Ethologie Experimentale et Comparee at the Universite Paris 13, France.