Carpenter Ant
Camponotus pennsylvanicus
Family Formicidae

Characteristics:
* Black, 3-segmented, with an hourglass waist.
* Front wings larger than hind wings.
* Antennae elbowed, with 6-13 segments. The first segment is longer than the others.
* Body length: 1/8-1/2".

Natural History:
* Habitat: Nearly everywhere, near people and wood. Carpenter ants build nests in wood, in logs, stumps,telephone poles, and buildings.
* Range: Throughout the world.
* Behavior: Carpenter ants live according to a rigid social structure, with each colony containing a queen, who lays thousands of eggs over the course of her lifetime, and thousands of workers, who gather food, care for the young ants, and protect the colony.
* Native.

Connections!
* In the Mediterranean, ants are used by surgeons to close incisions; they are made to bite together an open wound, and then their heads are severed from their bodies. Their jaws will remain locked until the incision heals.

* You'll most likely find carpenter ants raiding your house in early spring, when the flowers that they feed on later in the summer haven't started to produce nectar.

* "Ants are warm, dry and aphrodisiac and their acid smell wonderfully enlivens the vital spirits."
-Dr. James, in his Medical Dictionary, 1745