Those who occupy a very small colony? (7)
I believe the answer is:
tenants
'those who occupy' is the definition.
(people occupying a property)
'a very small colony?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is found within the answer.
'small' could be 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size) and 's' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'tent' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
(Other definitions for tenants that I've seen before include "Occupiers" , "They pay rent" , "Lodgers" , "residents" .)