Little Black Ant
Monomorium minimum (Buckley)
The Little Black Ant is found throughout the US especially the Eastern half of the US and southern California.
They get their name from their size and jet black color. The workers are only 1/16 of an inch and the queen is twice
that size at 1/8 of an inch. They have a 12 segment antenna with a 3 segmented-club.
Little Black Ants have 2
nodes and a small weak stinger. Swarmers are
usually found from June to August when mating and new colonies are formed.
The colonies have multiple queens which aids the the colonies to grow
Closely related to the Pharaoh ant in identification
except the color, the Little Black Ant is also often mistaken for another ant
pest: the Rover Ant.
The little black ant nests inside and outside. Outside they prefer decade wood but will
also nest under rocks, lawns and also in open areas. Inside they can be found in wood work voids and cracks in cement and under edges of carpet.
Their nests can be located by small caters of fine soil deposited at the entrance.
Colonies are very mobile
and are willing to move if disturbed.
When foraging, little black ants leave a scent mark trail along the edges of structures such as walls,
sidewalks or baseboards.
These trails can be followed to the nest for baiting or trenching the mounds. The ants will
feed on honeydew, grease, oil, meats, fruits, vegetables and sweets.
Indoor ant infestations are not typically the result of indoor colonies. Usually the ants are nesting outside and coming in to the house or building to forage
for food. In that case, drenching the exterior mounds with an insecticide such as
Cypermethrin can often be the most important step in achieving control.
When mounds cannot be located,
spraying the window seals and cracks with Cypermethrin (Cynoff
EC, Cynoff WP, Demon WP or
Demon WP) and using a sweet bait or dual bait such as
Gourmet or Advance Dual Choice in the house
is a great combination. NEVER use an indoor spray if you are incorporating
the use of an indoor ant bait! Such tactics will usually contaminate your
bait, resulting in failure to control the pests.
Simply picking up rocks and debris around the house will also help. If the ants are nesting in the house,
the wall voids will need to be dusted with Drione
in areas where ant baits are not to be used.
Our thanks to Chrissy Helmig for her hard work and research that went into this Little Black Ant information page!
General Pest Control Animals
and Pests Ant Index
Ant Baits Little
Black Ant Rover Ants