How does an ant colony form itself?

Question

It is my understanding that the female is a solitary creature and that the males are there to protect and feed the babies. So does a female form the colony by herself?

Answer 1

From the start, the queens and males (you see them after they've grown as the ants with wings), leave their root nest and search for a place of their own.

Now, for some species, the female digs the beginning of the nest, and leaves a scent trail for the new males to follow. Then, after they have bred, the females daughters (all non-breeders are female) take care of the queen and her mates.

In other species, the female will pair off with a single male and they will dig a nest together. Again, the ensuing workers take care of the queen and male.

In still others, males rove from nest to nest, leaving the queen to fend for herself until she has daughters to take care of her.

It's a little more complicated than that, but that's the basics of it.

Answer 2

First they pick a queen then that's the only one that can have babies with 1 baby every 10 seconds she'll mate with here sons and divide the ants into groups workers and soldiers the soldiers get food and fight while the workers make tunnels and raise the baby ants.