Swimming-ant
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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.