Species Camponotus nearcticus

Orig. Comb: Camponotus marginatus var. nearcticus Emery, 1893

small, mostly black and shiny, very few apparent hairs; there is a form with an orange/red mesosoma.

in the NE one of 3 spp. with a distinct notch in the clypeus

widely dist., though less common across w. N. Amer. - Map, The most common and widely distributed of the smaller carpenter ants.

Occurs virtually anywhere there is standing dead wood to support its preferred nesting habitat, preformed cavities in dead parts of living trees and in galls or in snags. It may be found in the backyard tree or pristine upland or floodplain forest, and is almost or indeed as ubiquitous as C. pennsylvanicus.

Sexuals are reared at the end of the growing season, overwinter with the parent colony, then fly in mid-spring of the following year.

Food habits include feeding on honeydew, extrfloral and gall nectar, sap fluxes, bird and reptile droppings, and occasional insect or spider prey. Like most of our Camponotus, alates of this species are reared in late summer and fall, but do not fly until the following May. (AntWeb)

Arboreal. Forages on trees day and night, but more abundantly at night, at least in warm weather.