Banded sugar ant colony can be long-lived, with queens living for seven years or more. The black carpenter ant ("Camponotus pennsylvanicus") is known to adopt larvae and pupae from banded sugar ant colonies. Workers that belong to different matrilines (female ancestry) appear significantly different from each other in size. Matrilines are also said to influence caste determination within the species. The banded sugar ant is considered a household pest and is occasionally seen in houses at night, capable of damaging furniture and fittings by chewing the wood; carbon disulphide is used to treat and remove a banded sugar ant nest. These ants do
Ant desiccation, so the ability to find the shortest route back to the nest reduces that risk. Diurnal desert ants of the genus "Cataglyphis" such as the Sahara desert ant navigate by keeping track of direction as well as distance travelled. Distances travelled are measured using an internal pedometer that keeps count of the steps taken and also by evaluating the movement of objects in their visual field (optical flow). Directions are measured using the position of the sun. They integrate this information to find the shortest route back to their nest. Like all ants, they can also make use of