Appearance: Small ant species with deep black color. It has a prominent petiole which distinguishes it from the Ghost Ant. These ants are 2.5mm in size and are slightly smaller and sturdier than the Ghost ant variety.
Behavior: Black House ant prefer sweet liquid from other insects and plants. They also like seeds and plants, so they often become pests in the food storehouse. They travel far away from their nests by following the path and during breeding season, they will gather near the light.
Sign of Infestation: By findings of ant colonies and nests, and ant foraging behavior.
Diseases/Contamination: This species is an expert at building hard-to-spot nests from cracks and crevices, making colony elimination a difficult task. There are more than one queen in the colony and they have fast reproduction cycle.
Prevention: By reducing food sources that are potentially preferred by ants like food that contain sugar and carbohydrates, by closing any potential access, and by reducing humidity.
Reproduction: After mating, the ant queen will find a nest and start laying her eggs. The queen will provide care of the eggs, larvae, and pupae until the first worker ants appear. The workers start taking care of the colony and collected food. While the workers play a role in expanding the colony, the queen kept on laying eggs. The colonies are mature when wings are formed in males and females mate.