Sandhill carpenter ant
The sandhill carpenter ant is one of the biggest ants in North America. Its head is dark, its middle is reddish, and its back end has orange stripes a bit like a wasp. It digs its nest deep in sandy ground under shady oak and pine trees.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Sandhill carpenter ant compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its nest goes about 60 centimetres down into the sand, with lots of rooms that get bigger as the family grows.
One colony uses several extra nests, and the workers walk back and forth between them.
The workers carry the dug-out sand far away from the door, so no anthill gives the nest away.
It stays inside during the hottest hours and works in the early morning and late evening.
Winged young queens and males fly out on warm, calm, cloudy afternoons after heavy rain.
Most asked questions about Sandhill carpenter ant
?How big is the sandhill carpenter ant?
Workers are about 7.5 to 16 millimetres long, and the queen can be up to 20 millimetres.
?What does the sandhill carpenter ant eat?
Small insects and other tiny creatures, and sweet honeydew from sap-sucking bugs.
Myth buster
Myth: All carpenter ants chew up wooden houses.
Truth: This one nests in sandy ground, not in wood, so it is no danger to homes.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Camponotus socius
- Named by
- Roger, 1863
- Group
- Ants
- Family
- Formicidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Formicidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Camponotus socius (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by April Nobile. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Black garden ant
Bullet ant
Pharaoh ant
Argentine ant
Red imported fire ant
Yellow crazy ant
California warrior beetle
Western tailed-blue
White M hairstreak
Scarlet-winged lichen moth
Grey count
Red-lined looper