Black Carpenter Ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus)

Detailing the physical features, habits, territorial reach and other identifying qualities of the Black Carpenter Ant

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The large and bulky Black Carpenter Ant is an unwelcome house guest for good reason.

Updated: 01/26/2021; Authored By Staff Writer; Content ©www.InsectIdentification.org

Black Carpenter Ants are almost gigantic compared to other ant species. Recognized mostly by size and color, this type of ant also has one segment at its waist and a long abdomen with lightly-colored gray-black hairs on it. They are glossy and completely black. Their antennae bend just after coming out of the head. Males have wings and fly, as do potential queens. From late spring to the middle of summer, they form swarms as they are actively trying to breed.

Their name suggests that it is an ant that builds, and it does that very well. The building locations of Black Carpenter Ants nest can make them quite a nuisance for humans. Carpenter Ants are unlike termites as they do not eat wood, but they do make a home in it. They build colonies of up to 10,000 ants in dead trees, telephone poles, wood piles and sheds, under house insulation, or even inside the walls of houses. Worker ants cannot fly and live to solely to serve the one queen in a mature colony. Solitary scouts are sent to forage for food and return to the spot with more ants later. The queen ant produces eggs quickly, and it takes little time for a small colony to grow into a massive one. A large colony will even begin expanding into smaller satellite colonies if space is limited. Infestations can cause a lot of damage and are best removed by a professional exterminator.

Black Carpenter Ants do bite, though they cannot sting. Another defensive maneuver they use is spraying formic acid at a possible threat. (All members of the family Formicidae build up an internal store of natural formic acid and use it to ward off predators.) Black Carpenter Ants feed on plant juices, fungus, food scraps, and even other insects. Most food foraging is done under cover of night, though they have been seen at breakfast on kitchen counters and stove tops eating leftover crumbs.

Known Diet of the Black-Carpenter-Ant

insects, honeydew, fruit juice, sugar grains, sweet processed foods, sweet organic foods

General Characteristics
Capability, Shape, Texture/Pattern, Benefits, Dangers

Taxonomic Hierarchy
Species Breakdown

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Hymenoptera

Family: Formicidae

Genus: Camponotus

Species: pennsylvanicus

Identifying Information
Size, Colors, Features

Scientific Name: Camponotus pennsylvanicus

Other Name(s): Black Ant, Carpenter Ant

Category: Bee, Ant, Wasp and Similar

Size (Adult; Length): 6mm to 13mm (0.23" to 0.51")

Colors: black, brown, yellow, gray

Descriptors: hairy, biting, jaws, sprays, acid, formic, harmful, flying

Relative Size Comparison
Typical Range Between 6mm and 13mm

Lo: 6mm
Md: 9.5mm
Hi: 13mm

Territorial Reach (A-to-Z)
U.S., Canada, and Mexico

Newfoundland and Labrador

Territorial Map*
U.S., Canada, and Mexico

Canadian territory of British Columbia graphic

Canadian territory of New Brunswick graphic

Canadian territory of Newfoundland and Labrador graphic

Canadian territory of Saskatchewan graphic

Territory map graphic of the country of Mexico

Contiguous United States shape map layer graphic

Alaska

Hawaii

Prince Edward Is.

* MAP NOTES: The territorial heat map above showcases (in red) the states and territories of North America where the Black Carpenter Ant may be found (but is not limited to). This sort of data is useful when attempting to see concentrations of particular species across the continent as well as revealing possible migratory patterns over a species' given lifespan. Some insects are naturally confined by environment, weather, mating habits, food resources and the like while others see widespread expansion across most, or all, of North America. States/Territories shown above are a general indicator of areas inhabited by the Black Carpenter Ant. Insects generally go where they please, typically driven by diet, environmental changes, and / or mating habits.

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