Little Black Ant; Monomorium minimum, Description and Control of Black Ants

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 rapidly.
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!