Do ants grow wings when they reach adulthood?

Question

y not?

Answer 1

You've no doubt read the above answer, and she is surely right, but if you are writing about winged ants you've seen in or around your house, they probably aren't ants at all, they're termites, so have your folks have it checked out before they do any more damage.  Most termite companies offer free inspections.

Answer 2

no

Answer 3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant#Morphol...

...Most queens and male ants have wings; queens shed the wings after the nuptial flight, leaving visible stubs, a distinguishing feature of queens. However, wingless queens (ergatoids) and males occur in a few species....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_ant#A...

...Unlike other ants, however, young queens have a pair of wings. These are only used for the nuptial flight, and are later detached either by the queen herself or chewed off by her worker ants....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ant_...

Flying Ant Day or Flant Day is an informal term for a day on which queen ants emerge from the nest to begin their nuptial flight. In most species, the male ants also fly alongside them, although they are smaller and less noticeable. The queens fly for a while - sometimes being dispersed very long distances, and sometimes going only a few meters - then mate, and drop to the ground where they lose their wings, and attempt to start a colony.

The mass of flying insects often attracts the attention of predators such as birds, and it is common to see flocks of feeding birds gorging on the readily available food.

This phenomenon occurs in many colonies simultaneously when the local weather conditions are appropriate, to reduce the effectiveness of predation and to ensure that the queens and males from different colonies stand a chance of meeting and interbreeding. It therefore has the appearance of being a 'timed' event or that the ants somehow communicate. However neither of these is likely to be the case - it is simply a common response to temperature, humidity and windspeed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuptial_fli...

Nuptial flight is an important phase in the reproduction of most ant and some bee species [1]. During the flight, virgin queens mate with males and then land to start a new colony, or, in the case of honey bees, continue the planned succession of an existing hived colony.

Before the flight

A mature ant colony seasonally produces winged virgin queens and males....

Answer 4

Male ants and princess (immature queen) ants have wings.  Worker ants do not.  Queens lose their wings when they settle down.