Meet the Grease Ants (Solenopsis molesta).  Smallest ants I’ve ever seen. One or two millimetres long, they look like specks of dust at first glance, but on closer inspection are perfectly formed little ants.  This bunch is a minor infestation running around the kitchen surface where I’m staying in California – or rather an ex-infestation, as I’m afraid we had to zap them.  Native to most parts of the U.S.A. – for sure we don’t have anything like this in Surrey – they’re also known as thief ants for their behaviour of stealing food from other ant colonies.  They also like grease.  The UK 20p piece is for size comparison – it’s about the size of a U.S. nickel.

Naturally, there’s also a Grease Ant Movie.  Shot in low light with the iPad camera, so excuse the less than National Geographic production values: