Worker ants in this genus have a body length that is typically about four millimetres and can be recognised by their thick, inflexible and strongly sculptured integument.

The longitudinal suture in the central plate of the metathorax is deeply impressed.

The propodeum or first abdominal segment has the posterior face distinctly concave when viewed from the side.

[4] Colonies are of varying sizes and are constructed in the soil, in curled leaves, in the hollow stems of plants and in cartons which are formed by the ants chewing wood and mixing the product with secretions in a similar way to that used by wasps to build their nests.

Some species are very versatile with Dolichoderus pustulatus nesting underground in northern parts of the United States while living wholly in trees in the south.