Common black ant, garden ant, Lasius niger.
They are a very common pest issue in households, especially during the summer period. A colony can have averagely have up to 4 -7 thousand workers but on rare occasions, they have been known to grow into the tens of thousands. They can have multiple queens who will tolerate each other until the workers arrive and then they will fight until only one will remain.
They will tend to harbour in moist soil, under plant pots, paving stone cracks and crevices and also burrow themselves into wood work. We have also noticed that due to better insulation and an increased use in underfloor heating in kitchens, this has also made nesting in households a lot more appealing, not to mention the being in close range to a food source.
Once they leave their harbourage location they will venture out to look for tiny particles of sugar and crumbs which can easily go unmissed in a household. Due to this we would highly recommend a deep clean is carried out during our treatment process and make sure all rubbish is emptied every night as they can easily access sealed household bins.