Ghost ant is a 3-star species card from the Industrial Age. Ghost ants are so pale they almost vanish against a white bench.
Bonus by grade
| Grade | Copies needed | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 0 | +10% fewer explorers lost |
| Uncommon | 2 | +18% fewer explorers lost |
| Rare | 5 | +30% fewer explorers lost |
| Epic | 10 | +45% fewer explorers lost |
| Legendary | 20 | +70% fewer explorers lost |
Duplicates raise the grade: Uncommon at 2, Rare at 5, Epic at 10, Legendary at 20.
Codex
- Common: Tapinoma melanocephalum has a dark head and a see-through pale body.
- Uncommon: Workers are under 2 mm long.
- Rare: The species is a tropical tramp ant, carried around the world by people.
- Epic: They nest in tiny cracks, plant pots and walls.
- Legendary: Their pale bodies make them hard for predators to spot.
Field notes are reviewed regularly. Spot something wrong? Tell us.
Field guide
| Size | Workers about 1.3–1.5 mm, all one size |
| Colony | Often about 100–1,000 ants; linked nests can reach thousands |
| Queens | Many queens, spread across several sub-nests |
| Nest | Soil, plant pots, loose bark, palm frond bases and wall gaps |
| Diet | Honeydew, live and dead insects, and sweet foods |
| Defence | No stinger |
| Active | Warm weather; they dry out easily so need humid spots |
| Lifespan | Not well known |
| Where it lives | Old World tropics, now in warm places worldwide and in heated buildings further south |
Did you know?
- Disturbed workers run fast and erratically, but trailing workers move slowly and some carry brood.
- Crushed ghost ants give off a rotten coconut smell, like odorous house ants.
- They often enter buildings from plants touching the walls.
Sources: ant-pests.extension.org, tsusinvasives.org
Codex sets
- Ants of the machine ages: Bullet ant, Argentine ant, Pharaoh ant, Yellow crazy ant, Odorous house ant, Ghost ant, Mangrove ant, Spider ant, European fire ant, Red harvester ant, Longhorn crazy ant, Little fire ant, Exploding ant, Acacia ant, Azteca ant, Indian jumping ant
Queen affinity
- Black garden ant: ×1 chance
- Meat ant: ×0.6 chance
- Bull ant: ×0.6 chance