Little black ant

Monomorium minimum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Solenopsidini
Genus:	Monomorium
Species:	M. minimum
Binomial name
Monomorium minimum Buckley, (1866)

The little black ant (Monomorium minimum) is a species of ant native to North America.^[1] It is a shiny black color, the workers about 1 to 2 mm long and the queens 4 to 5 mm long. It is a monomorphic species, with only one caste of worker, and polygyne, meaning a nest may have more than one queen. A colony is usually moderately sized with only a few thousand workers.^{[citation needed]}

Monomorium minimum are scavengers that will consume anything from bird droppings to dead insects. They are predators of codling moth larvae, and also of fall webworm.^[2][3] Workers may forage in households, but nest in soil mounds. It also tends aphids such as the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines), harvesting honeydew.^[4]

During mid-summer the queens and males perform the nuptial flight, mating in midair. The males die shortly after. Each queen constructs a new nest, sheds its wings, and lays eggs. The development from egg to adult takes about a month.^{[citation needed]}

In a laboratory setting queens were found to live about one year and workers about four months.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

External links[]

• Media related to Monomorium minimum at Wikimedia Commons
• Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington vol. 14-15. Entomological Society of Washington, 1913. pg 70.
• Monomorium minimum, the little black ant. The Ants of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
• Little Black Ant, Monomorium minimum. Center for Urban & Structural Entomology. Texas A&M University Agrilife Extension. 2010.