Banded Sugar Ant

Camponotus consobrinus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Formicidae

Can damage your home. They can chew wood and damage furniture or fittings, and larger soldiers can bite painfully.

Banded sugar ants are large ants found in forests, woodlands and urban areas across southeastern Australia. Workers eat sweet secretions from insects and can kill prey with formic-acid spray; soldiers may bite with strong jaws. They are nocturnal household pests that can chew wood, damaging furniture and fittings.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Females have a black head, orange thorax and an orange-brown band around the gaster; males are all black.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Workers range from about 4 mm to 16 mm, with major (soldier) and minor castes, and queens are larger.

Source: Wikipedia

Is it a pest in the house?

In homes they are considered pests and can damage woodwork, furniture and fittings.

Source: Wikipedia

Does it bite or sting?

They cannot sting, but large soldiers can bite with powerful jaws and spray corrosive formic acid.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

They are mainly nocturnal and prefer moist forest and woodland habitats, but also occur in urban areas.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

They collect sweet secretions from aphids and other insects and hunt other insects, killing them with formic-acid spray.

Source: Wikipedia

When you see it

They are active at night and are often seen inside houses after dark.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

The species is native to Australia and is most common in the southeast region.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

The black-headed sugar ant looks similar but lacks the orange-brown band and is lighter in colour.

Source: Wikipedia

Questions people ask

How can I get rid of banded sugar ants?

Treat the nest with carbon disulphide, which is effective against them.

Source: Wikipedia

Do banded sugar ants bite?

Large soldier ants can deliver a painful bite with their strong jaws.

Source: Wikipedia

What damage can they cause in my house?

They can chew wood, damaging furniture, fittings and other wooden structures.

Source: Wikipedia

How can I tell them apart from black-headed sugar ants?

Banded sugar ants have a black head, orange thorax and an orange-brown band on the gaster, while black-headed sugar ants lack the band and are lighter overall.

Source: Wikipedia