Giant ant ( Fallout 3 ) Giant ants are creatures found in the Capital Wasteland in 2277 . Background . Giant ants are large mutated insects of the " " family , genus " " , most likely black carpenter ants . Some scientists theorize this mutation comes from the effects of extended exposure to radiation . Characteristics . Biology . They make a loud , chattering noise with their mandibles and are better adjusted to daylight than their . There are four variants of these ants : workers , soldiers , queens , and the mutated forager ants . Ant nectar can occasionally be looted from their corpses and refuse piles ( found in their lairs ) . Gameplay attributes . Ants usually attack in droves of 3 - 5 head on . They don ' t try to flank enemies , but will surround them if they get close enough . Their mandibles can be devastating to lower level players , but they are not much of a threat to higher level or well equipped players . If their antennae are crippled , ants will frenzy and attack everything around them , including their own kind . The Entomologist perk will increase damage against giant ants and other insects by 50 % . Variants . Giant ant . This ant variant can only be found dead throughout the Capital Wasteland . Giant soldier ant . These are the colony ' s main defense against intruders . They are plentiful and will often overwhelm an enemy , either letting it run off or killing it on the spot ; usually the latter . Giant worker ant . As their name suggests , these ants do most of the work around the colony . They are relatively frail but are found in large groups . Giant ant queen . The mother of their respective ant brood , this variant is roughly four to five times larger than your average giant ant . When threatened , her wings will buzz about and she will hiss at the enemy . She will then proceed to spit an acidic saliva at the enemy in an attempt to ward it off . Ant queens are not very fast , though they do seem to notice you from a distance and spit with surprising accuracy . The queens are generally considered to be one of the " boss " characters in " Fallout 3 " , as they have extremely high health ( about 1 / 2 that of a super mutant behemoth ) making them one of the few creatures in the Capital Wasteland that can survive a Nuka - grenade blast . There are only three queens in " Fallout 3 " : in Marigold station , Shalebridge , and the Corvega factory . The Marigold ant queen is the mother of the fire ants that have been harassing Grayditch . She was mutated by Doctor Lesko in an attempt to create smaller ants with a chemical mutagen that would be injected into the queen ant , but instead fire - spitting giant ants resulted ( for a more detailed description see the fire ant page ) . Invader ant . Invader ants are a species of ant found in Shalebridge that , as their name suggests , are invading the colony of the forager ants ( see below ) . They have the same health as a worker ant , so they can still pack a punch for low level players . Mutated forager ant . These ants are friendly and won ' t attack the player . They are small for mutated ants and live in the colony located in Shalebridge tunnels , which is under attack by a hostile , more aggressive colony of rival giant ants . The Lone Wanderer can help the forager ants by traveling into the rival ant nest and killing their queen . The growth of the colony can then be stimulated by injecting the egg clusters with stimpak s . These forager ants are the same as any friendly non - player character ; they will become hostile if attacked . If shot , one of the others won ' t attack you unless they are about two feet away . They are extremely small for regular wasteland ants , even smaller than radroaches . Appearances . Giant ants appear in " Fallout 3 " .