They are usually black. The queens are the largest ants in the colony and the workers in an established colony will be of two sizes. Carpenter ants usually have a thorax that is evenly rounded and a circle of tiny hairs on the tip of the abdomen.
Carpenter ants are social insects that usually nest in wood.
They commonly excavate galleries or tunnels in rotting or sound trees and will readily infest the wooden portions of your home. They prefer to excavate wood damaged by fungus and are often found in conjunction with moisture problems. The adult winged female or queen loses her wings soon after mating with the smaller male and selects a nesting site where she secludes herself while raising the first brood of workers. These workers are very small but take over the care of the immature and the queen after they mature. Future workers are usually larger than those from the first brood because they receive better care.