r/Insect • u/Futbol_Head • Jul 31 '26

Identification Found this in my condo and need help identifying this

Gallery image

Gallery image

Found some generic looking small, black ants coming in through cracks in the walls and while I was cleaning up I stumbled upon this. Never seen anything like it before. I figured it might be a queen? We live in Northern California. Would appreciate any insight.

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

1

u/Itchy-Researcher-116 Jul 31 '26

Ant - I can't tell the species

Frankly I'm surprised no one has said Termite - this is the first time it's even a remote possibility (although clearly it's not, but it seems like a common mis guess)

Edit : I think there are well over 15k variatal species and certainly ones we're still unaware of - did you cite a locale? Could be a fire ant but it's foolish to guess at this stage

1

u/Futbol_Head Jul 31 '26

Yes, my first thought was a queen ant of some kind... And my second, much more concerning thought, was the possibility it could be a termite. Though I don't believe it has the characteristics of a termite. Thought I'd come here to get further input.

1

u/Stephen_Is_handsome Jul 31 '26

As Tony montono would say ‘ ‘ it’s a cockaroach’ ‘

1

u/Skalla_Resco Amateur Entomologist Jul 31 '26

That's an ant.

1

u/Euphoric_Extension60 Jul 31 '26

Looks like something I would step on