They are usually black. The queens are the largestants in the colony and the workers in an established colony willbe of two sizes. Carpenter ants usually have a thorax that isevenly rounded and a circle of tiny hairs on the tip of theabdomen.
Carpenter ants are social insects that usuallynest in wood.
They commonly excavate galleries or tunnels inrotting or sound trees and will readily infest the woodenportions of your home. They prefer to excavate wood damaged byfungus and are often found in conjunction with moisture problems. The adult winged female or queen loses her wingssoon after mating with the smaller male and selects a nestingsite where she secludes herself while raising the first brood ofworkers. These workers are very small but take over the care ofthe immature and the queen after they mature. Future workers areusually larger than those from the first brood because theyreceive better care.