Monomorium carbonarium
Species of ant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monomorium carbonarium, also referred to the little black ant in North America, is a species of ant native to North America and Europe.[1] It is a shiny black color, the workers about 1 to 2 mm long and the queens 4 to 5 mm long. It is a monomorphic species, with only one caste of worker, and polygynous, meaning a nest may have more than one queen. A colony is usually moderately sized with only a few thousand workers.[citation needed]
| Monomorium carbonarium | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Genus: | Monomorium |
| Species: | M. carbonarium |
| Binomial name | |
| Monomorium carbonarium (Smith, F., 1858) | |
M. carbonarium are scavengers that will consume anything from bird droppings to dead insects. They are predators of codling moth larvae, and also of fall webworm.[2][3] Workers may forage in households, but nest in soil mounds. They harvest the honeydew of aphids such as the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines).[4]
During mid-summer the queens and males perform the nuptial flight, mating in midair. The males die shortly after. Each queen constructs a new nest, sheds its wings, and lays eggs. The development from egg to adult takes about a month.[citation needed]
In a laboratory setting queens were found to live about one year and workers about four months.[citation needed]
Formerly separate species, Monomorium minimum and Monomorium trageri were synonymized under M. carbonarium by Seifert in 2025.[5]
