Black Ants are small and black (no surprises there). The males have wings. Females have wings until after mating, when she becomes the reproductive queen ant. Worker ants are sterile and their role is to maintain the nest, gather food and feed the larvae. Soldiers are a also from the worker caste. Black Ants can be a pest around homes, especially when they get into the kitchen. They make long trails from the nest to food sources and can come in to the house under doors, or through cracks round windows. When they are nesting in the house they can sometimes be detected by the mess of black droppings on floors or window sills.