Fun Facts About Black Ants
The world contains more than 12,000 species of ants, many of which go by the common name of "black ant." Common black ants include carpenter ants, Argentine ants, pavement ants and odorous house ants. From their social dynamic to their diet, ants are fascinating and complex insects.
An ant colony consists of three types of ants: a queen, female workers and males. The queen spends her entire life mating with male ants and laying eggs. Each carpenter ant colony is founded by a single fertilized queen ant, who lays her eggs in a cavity in wood and feeds them with her own saliva. The population may eventually grow to produce up to 2,000 workers. Pavement ants may have multiple queens and colonies with 3,000 to 4,000 workers.
Ants can eat almost anything, using their scissorslike jaws to squeeze juice from dead insects or plants. Odorous house ants love sugar foods and are especially partial to melons. In addition to sweets, Argentine ants will eat meat, eggs and oil. When they leave the colony to forage for food, Argentine ants leave a pheromone trail that lets other ants know not to visit the same area twice. Ants can carry huge amounts of food, up to 20 times the weight of their own body.
Like other ants, black ants look for colony sites near moisture and food. They often colonize tree stumps, firewood, cracks in the sidewalk or pockets of space under rocks, mulch or boards. In the home, they may nest in wall voids, in wood or in moist areas near leaky plumbing. They are also common under the house and under decks. In the winter, multiple colonies of Argentine ants may join together and overwinter as one massive colony with hundreds of queens.
Ants can be frustrating to have in the house. Odorous house ants release an unpleasant smell when squished, and carpenter ants can cause damage to the wood in a home. To prevent ants, eliminate standing water and seal cracks and openings inside the house. Stack firewood away from your house, and cut any tree or plant branches back so that they are not touching the walls and providing a path for the ants.
Michelle Wishhart is a writer based in Portland, Ore. She has been writing professionally since 2005, starting with her position as a staff arts writer for City on a Hill Press, an alternative weekly newspaper in Santa Cruz, Calif. An avid gardener, Wishhart worked as a Wholesale Nursery Grower at Encinal Nursery for two years. Wishhart holds a Bachelor of Arts in fine arts and English literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz.