The queens have the most important role at any colony—they are the main reproducing female for an ant colony, mother to all the swarms of ants you see on a hill. Sometimes they even manage to reproduce asexually or by cloning—or do it the old fashioned way in a nuptial flight to produce larvae.
They have the longest life-spans of any insect known to man at a ripe 30 years. An ant was held in captivity by German Entomologists for 28 and three-quarter years, while another is known to be able to live 30 years in the field.
But the royal title is merely a facade. They don't get to control the colony, just birth it. If you think of an ant colony as a single, functioning being, the queen ant would be the reproductive organs—that manage to outlive any other part of the body.
