Ferruginous Carpenter Ant

Camponotus chromaiodes · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Formicidae

Also called: Red Carpenter Ant, Rust-colored Carpenter Ant

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Ferruginous Carpenter Ant
Photo: Meghan Cassidy, CC BY-SA

The ferruginous carpenter ant is scientifically named Camponotus chromaiodes. It lives in the eastern United States and also occurs in Nebraska, Kansas, and possibly California. Workers carry gut bacteria from the Acetobacteraceae family.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Workers have gut bacteria belonging to the Acetobacteraceae family.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 34 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: endemic in United States; native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Ferruginous Carpenter Ant photo 3
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY-SA
Ferruginous Carpenter Ant photo 4
Photo: DiegoH, CC BY
Ferruginous Carpenter Ant photo 5
Photo: unknown, CC0
Ferruginous Carpenter Ant photo 6
Photo: Kaden Slone, CC BY

Same family (Formicidae)

Eastern Black Carpenter AntEastern Black Carpenter AntCamponotus pennsylvanicusCan damage your homeRed Imported Fire AntRed Imported Fire AntSolenopsis invictaCan stingAmerican Winter AntAmerican Winter AntPrenolepis imparisArgentine AntArgentine AntLinepithema humileNuisance, not dangerousImmigrant Pavement AntImmigrant Pavement AntTetramorium immigransCan stingOdorous House AntOdorous House AntTapinoma sessileCan damage your home

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camponotus_chromaiodes

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.