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Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera.

Black house ant (Ochetellus glaber)

Black house ants are 2.5 – 3mm long, and intensely black in colour with a sometimes subtle, purplish-green iridescence. They are smaller and stockier than the Whitefooted house ant and produce a distinctive strong odour when crushed.

However the smell is reportedly undetectable to some. These ants bite, but don’t sting and are an introduced species.

Black house ants may import and tend aphids and other bugs on domestic pot plants. They nest outside around the edges of paths, rockeries, and other structures, and also commonly nest indoors in ceilings, cavity walls and subfloor areas. They prefer sweet foods, but will eat a variety of foodstuffs.

Coastal brown ant (Pheidole megacephala)

Coastal brown ants are shiny and light to dark brown in colour. Workers are 1.5 – 3mm and soldiers 3.5 – 4.5mm with large heads and powerful jaws. They give a relatively painless sting and are an introduced species.

These ants generally nest outside around paths and rockeries, where trails may be seen. In an infestation they are often located in the walls of houses, in wall crevices and behind skirtings. They prefer food of animal origin, including dead insects, meat and grease. There are multiple queens in each nest and nests are characterised by a number of interconnected holes.

White-footed house ant (Technomyrmex albipes)

White-footed house ants (also known as Black ants in Victoria) are shiny black ants, uniform in shape and size, 2.8 – 3.5mm long. They have a large abdomen and under a microscope, these ants have light-coloured feet. They are an introduced species and bite, but don’t sting.

White-footed house ants are most common in moist, forested habitats and are more active at night.

Worker ants frequently enter houses through small cracks and, on finding a suitable food or water source, form trails with many workers travelling between their nest sites and the food source.

In general they nest outdoors but will sometimes establish small nests indoors (for example in wall cavities, behind cupboards and skirtings, and even small empty storage containers) near a well maintained food supply. These ants prefer sweet foods, but will also eat meats.

Each nest has one winged queen and many fertile, wingless ‘intercastes’ which has enormous reproductive potential. At some point ‘budding’ of the colony may take place, where a wingless reproductive and a large number of workers (who carry larvae and pupae with them), leave the parent colony and establish a new colony a short distance
away. Therefore mass migrations of ants, carrying their white babies in their mouths, may be observed. These ants can often be controlled using baiting methods. This will require some patience, and fresh bait will need to be put out daily. If ants are re-infesting from a nest outside, spraying of the nest, and perhaps walls or building foundations may
be required.