Tetramorium caespitum

Description

The workers are one size, about 3/16 inch. Pavement ants are brown to black with paler legs and antennae. The waist (pedicel) has two nodes. The antennae are 12-segmented with a three-segmented club. There are distinctive parallel ridges or grooves on the head and thorax. The thorax has a pair of small spines on the upper-back part.

Life Cycle

Egg, larva, pupa and adult

Where To Look

Indoors, nests are found in walls and insulation and under floors. During the winter, they may nest near heat sources. Outdoors, nests are along sidewalks and foundations of buildings, near wood, stones, brick, mulch, etc. They often enter buildings from outside via plumbing penetrations. Pavement ants will feed on most anything but have a preference for oily foods and meats. They also tend honeydew-producing insects.