Ants; family of small aculeate (stinger) Hymenoptera (order of ants and other insects) all of which form perennial societies founded in nests made in rotten wood, crevices, plant cavities or in the soil.

Their nests contain one or more fertile, egg-laying queens, hundreds to millions of neuter workers, and seasonally produced fertile males (drones) which fertilize queens during mass nuptial flights.

They get their food as predators of arthropods or insects, as scavengers, or on nectar and honeydew; and the family contains about 14,000 species.