Carpenter ant standard size of carpenter ant colonies elsewhere. When workers find food sources, they communicate this information to the rest of the nest. They use biochemical pheromones to mark the shortest path that can be taken from the nest to the source. When a sizable number of workers follows this trail, the strength of the cue increases and a foraging trail is established. This ends when the food source is depleted. The workers will then feed the queen and the larvae by consuming the food they have found, and regurgitating the food at the nest. Foraging trails can either be under
Little black ant Workers may forage in households, but nest in soil mounds. It also tends aphids such as the soybean aphid ("Aphis glycines"), harvesting honeydew. 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. In a laboratory setting queens were found to live about one year and workers about four months. Little black ant The little black ant ("Monomorium minimum") is a species of ant native to North America. It is