Polydomy
Guides
Camponotus pennsylvanicus
Eastern Black Carpenter Ant, Black Carpenter Ant
Camponotus pennsylvanicus, the Eastern Black Carpenter Ant, is a large, robust ant species native to eastern North America. Workers measure 3/8 to 1/2 inch in length and are uniformly dark brown to black. Unlike termites, this species excavates wood rather than consuming it, creating galleries in decaying stumps, fallen logs, and hollow trees for colony housing. The species is facultatively polydomous, with colonies sometimes occupying multiple nest sites connected by trails. C. pennsylvanicus is notable for its swimming ability, using forelegs to paddle and mid legs to row when encountering water hazards. The species employs chemical trail-laying for foraging recruitment and practices trophallaxis as a mechanism of social immunity, distributing antimicrobial substances among colony members. While primarily a forest species, it frequently becomes a household pest when satellite colonies establish in moisture-damaged structural wood.
Crematogaster pilosa
Hairy-headed Acrobat Ant
Crematogaster pilosa is a polydomous ant species native to the southern Atlantic coast of the United States and some interior areas. It forms multiple spatially separated nests per colony, typically inhabiting tidal marshes, wet meadows, and other wetland environments. The species nests in plant stems, logs, and fallen branches. Its common name 'Hairy-headed Acrobat Ant' refers to its pilose (hairy) head and the characteristic acrobat ant behavior of raising the gaster (abdomen) over the thorax when disturbed.
Formica obscuripes
Western Thatching Ant
Formica obscuripes, the western thatching ant, is a North American mound-building ant known for constructing large thatched nests from plant materials. Colonies can contain up to 40,000 workers and demonstrate complex social organization including behavioral constancy in worker task performance. The species employs hybrid foraging strategies combining pheromone-marked columns with visual and path integration navigation. It maintains defensive mutualisms with aphids and exhibits aggressive territorial behavior including the use of formic acid against intruders and competing vegetation.
Linepithema
Linepithema is a genus of small ants in the subfamily Dolichoderinae, comprising approximately 20 described species. The genus is native to the Neotropics, ranging from northern Mexico through the Caribbean to northern Argentina, with species occurring from sea level to 4,000 meters elevation in the Andes. Two species, L. humile (the Argentine ant) and L. iniquum, have been introduced globally through human activity. L. humile is among the most successful invasive ant species worldwide, forming massive supercolonies in Mediterranean-type climates.
Linepithema humile
Argentine ant
Linepithema humile, the Argentine ant, is a highly invasive species native to northern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil. It has become established in Mediterranean climate regions worldwide through human-mediated dispersal. The species forms expansive supercolonies through unicolonial organization, where neighboring colonies cooperate rather than compete. This structure enables rapid population growth and displacement of native ant species. L. humile is considered one of the most ecologically damaging invasive ants globally.
Tapinoma sessile
odorous house ant, sugar ant, stink ant, coconut ant
Tapinoma sessile is a small, highly adaptable ant native to North America that has become one of the most common household pests in the United States. The species exhibits remarkable plasticity in social structure: forest colonies are small, monogynous, and inhabit single nests, while urban colonies achieve massive supercolony status through extreme polygyny (multiple queens) and polydomy (multiple interconnected nests). Workers produce a distinctive odor when crushed, historically described as coconut-like but chemically confirmed to match blue cheese due to shared methyl ketones. The species spreads primarily through budding rather than independent colony founding, and shows high tolerance to many common insecticides, contributing to its persistence as a pest.