Woman comes home from vacation to find 'black dust' caused by ants

A woman in New South Wales, Australia, came home from a five-day vacation to find strange black dust in her bathroom.

An ant collects honeydew from an aphid (photo credit: DAWIDL/CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)/VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
An ant collects honeydew from an aphid
(photo credit: DAWIDL/CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)/VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

A woman from Australia's New South Wales spotted some strange and unexplainable "black dust" in her bathroom after she came home from a five-day vacation. So she took to the Internet to find answers – and what she found disturbed her.

Taking to a popular Facebook group for mothers, the woman shared pictures of the black dust, explaining that she had seen a bit before she left but had cleaned it. But clearly, that didn't work.

Many in the Facebook group said it was an ant infestation, with others saying it was spider or fly excrement. 

It was definitely not spider excrement – a website that specializes in this sort of thing explains that spider excrement isn't solid but is instead liquid and looks more brown, white or gray.

Other commenters said it could be termites and urged the woman to call for pest control.

 Red ants - also known as fire ants or solenopsis are stinging ants. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Red ants - also known as fire ants or solenopsis are stinging ants. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

However, most seemed to think it was ants.

What was the source of the black dust?

Speaking to news.com.au, Care Cleaning Services Sydney founder Charlotte Bosanquete said that it likely does look like some sort of an infestation, but said it could also be black mold. 

"Either way, I would highly recommend staying on the safe side and hiring pest control and a professional cleaning service to ensure that this is prevented in the future," she told news.com.au.

But the woman later posted an update.

"My husband investigated further – and he found a tiny hole in the bottom corner of the architrave around the window," she said, according to the Daily Mail Australia.


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"He watched some tiny black ants come in and out – we have bought some Ant Rid bait strips from the supermarket and have placed them near the tiny hole! Fingers crossed it works!"

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.