About Monomorium minimum (Buckley, 1867)
Monomorium carbonarium, commonly called the little black ant in North America, is a species of ant native to both North America and Europe. This ant is shiny black in color: workers measure roughly 1 to 2 mm long, while queens measure 4 to 5 mm long. It is a monomorphic species with only one worker caste, and it is polygynous, meaning a single nest can hold more than one queen. Colonies are usually moderately sized, containing only a few thousand workers. M. carbonarium are scavengers that consume a wide range of organic matter, from bird droppings to dead insects. They also act as predators of codling moth larvae and fall webworm. Worker ants will sometimes forage inside households, but they build their nests in soil mounds. They harvest honeydew produced by aphids, including the soybean aphid Aphis glycines. In mid-summer, queens and males engage in a nuptial flight, mating while in midair. Males die shortly after this mating event. Each mated queen builds a new nest, sheds her wings, and begins laying eggs. Development from egg to adult takes approximately one month. In laboratory conditions, queens have been recorded living about one year, while workers live about four months. Two previously recognized separate species, Monomorium minimum and Monomorium trageri, were synonymized under M. carbonarium by Seifert in 2025.
