The black garden ant, like other ants, has four stages of development: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The eggs are tiny, white, kidney-shaped, with a smooth sticky surface. This helps them to be carried in a group instead of one by one. After hatching the larvae look like tiny maggots. They need to be fed by the queen (or workers in the case of an established colony) if they are to mature. As they grow, they shed their skin, doing so usually three times in total. With each molt, the larvae grow hooked hairs which allow them to be carried in groups. At the last molt they are too big to be carried as part of a group and so are carried individually. When it is big enough, it spins a cocoon around itself. To help, the queen (or workers) may bury the larva so that it can spin its cocoon undisturbed. When the process of metamorphosis is complete the worker ant comes out of the cocoon. It is completely white but it only takes one hour to turn black.