Where do ants lay eggs?

Ants lay eggs inside their nests in protected chambers that are hidden from view, with the queen being the primary egg layer in most species, and the location varies by species and environment. Odorous house ants, which are tiny black ants common in kitchens, typically nest outdoors in soil under rocks, logs, or mulch, and indoors in wall voids, under floors, behind baseboards, and near moisture sources like under sinks, where the queen lays tiny white oval eggs in clusters in moist chambers tended by worker ants that move them to optimal temperature and humidity. Carpenter ants, which are larger black ants that excavate damp or decaying wood, lay eggs inside galleries they chew in wood, often in wall voids, hollow doors, and damp window frames, with the queen laying eggs that workers tend. Pharaoh ants nest in warm areas like inside walls near heating pipes. Ant eggs are very small, about 0.5 millimeters, white, and look like tiny grains of rice, and they are kept in nursery chambers deep inside the nest where workers constantly groom and move them to prevent fungal growth. A queen can lay thousands of eggs over her lifetime, with some queens living 3 to 7 years and laying daily during warm months. You will rarely see ant eggs unless you dig up an outdoor nest or open a wall void because they are hidden and protected. To control ants, you must target the nest and queen with slow-acting gel baits containing fipronil or borax that workers carry back to feed larvae and queen, killing the colony, rather than just killing visible foragers.