Ghost ants look like tiny, white apparitions who suddenly appear and seem to disappear just as quickly. Workers are 1/16 inch/1.5 mm in length. The legs, pedicel, gaster, and antennae are pale, almost translucent, in color and the head and thorax are darker. For this reason, the ghost ant is also known in some areas as the black-headed ant.
The size of colonies of ghost ants tend to be moderate to large and multiple queens are present. New colonies are started by “budding” where one or more reproductive females, several workers, and possibly some brood (larvae and pupae) migrate to a new nesting site. Their biology is similar to the Pharaoh ant.
Ghost ants are found in warm climates and can be a big problem in tropical areas of the world. In Florida, they are found mostly from Orlando south, although they do occur as far north as Gainesville, Florida and some isolated cases in California. Ghost ants are highly adaptable in their nesting habits, nesting in a variety of places. Inside, they can be in wall voids, behind baseboards, between cabinets, etc. They also like to nest in the soil of potted plants.
