Carpenter ant is a 1-star species card from the Iron Age. Carpenter ants tunnel through wood but don't eat it.
Bonus by grade
| Grade | Copies needed | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 0 | +6% Materials production |
| Uncommon | 2 | +10.8% Materials production |
| Rare | 5 | +18% Materials production |
| Epic | 10 | +27% Materials production |
| Legendary | 20 | +42% Materials production |
Duplicates raise the grade: Uncommon at 2, Rare at 5, Epic at 10, Legendary at 20.
Codex
- Common: Camponotus pennsylvanicus is a large black ant from North America.
- Uncommon: They chew galleries in damp or rotting wood and push out sawdust called frass.
- Rare: They eat insects and honeydew, not wood.
- Epic: Camponotus is one of the biggest ant genera, with over a thousand species.
- Legendary: They can damage houses when they nest in wet timber.
Field notes are reviewed regularly. Spot something wrong? Tell us.
Field guide
| Size | Workers about 5–16 mm; queens about 19 mm |
| Colony | Mature colonies hold about 15,000 to 20,000 ants |
| Queens | One queen, who mates once and stores the sperm |
| Nest | Dead or decaying wood in trees, logs and buildings; a main nest plus satellites |
| Diet | Insects, honeydew, nectar, fruit, fungi and food scraps |
| Defence | Lunges with spread jaws; makes formic acid, which signals alarm |
| Active | Mostly at night; rests when temperatures fall below about 5°C |
| Lifespan | Queens over 10 years; workers from months to 7 or more years |
| Where it lives | Eastern United States and eastern Canada, including towns, fields and woodland |
Did you know?
- A queen starts with just 5 to 15 eggs, then lays larger batches from her second season.
- Nests inside logs stay warm all year round.
- Birds, parasitic flies and a fungus all prey on carpenter ants.
Sources: biokids.umich.edu, extension.missouri.edu
Codex sets
- Ants of the metal ages: Leafcutter ant, Harvester ant, Weaver ant, Army ant, Trap-jaw ant, Carpenter ant, Fire ant, Banded sugar ant, Acrobat ant, Citronella ant, Silky ant, Tawny crazy ant, Blood-red ant, Inchman, Golden-tailed spiny ant, Black-headed sugar ant, Rock ant
Queen affinity
- Black garden ant: ×1.1 chance
- Meat ant: ×1 chance
- Bull ant: ×1 chance