Species Info General

Other common names include: Black-headed Ant

The Ghost Ant has been annoying Hawaii residents for well over a century.  It was well-adapted to living aboard ships in the 1800s and thus managed to spread itself around the world.  Perkins (1913) wrote, “This small ant flourishes best in dry hot localities on the lowlands or lower mountain slopes.  It is very common.”  Illingworth (1938) bemoaned this species “as a troublesome pest of residences in the drier beach sections of Honolulu.  The workers overrun the houses, getting into all kinds of foods, and even get into the beds, where they cause considerable annoyance by biting people.”  Deyrup, Davis & Cover (2000) wrote that this species if found “[a]lmost always in disturbed areas, in many sites seems confined to areas around buildings.  Nests are in bark mulch, under objects on the ground, and under loose bark and the bases of palm fronds.  It is a general scavenger and attracted to honeydew.”

Where night time or winter temperatures are too low for this species, it simply moves indoors and stays there.  Wetterer (2009) wrote “Tapinoma melanocephalum is particularly noted as a pest in homes, restaurants, hospitals, and greenhouses” and “I expect that T. melanocephalum will eventually spread to the disturbed lowlands of virtually every tropical country.  This species also appears to be an increasingly common indoor pest in temperate areas, and someday may be found in every major city of the world.”    Unfortunately, controlling this ant with pesticides is not very easy.  It does not consistently respond to typical ant baits – some days it might take the bait, but most days it won’t.