Carpenter Ants
- Jason Landon
- Oct 10, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 24, 2024
Nothing can quite compare to the annoyance and destruction caused by carpenter ants. These large black or reddish ants are responsible for damaging and excavating wood. Typical nesting areas for carpenter ants are around windows, inside wall voids, floor joists, or anywhere where wood is present and they feel safe. Severe infestation of carpenter ants are often heard prior to visually seeing them. It is not uncommon to hear the gnawing taking place inside of a wall void. Often confused with termites, they are not the same. They do, however, have swarming, flying ants produced by the colony annually.
As stated above, Carpenter Ants are usually found around sources of wood. Some areas typical to see them are, wood piles left on the ground for long periods of time and around the bases of trees in your yard.
Adults can reach 3/8 of an inch in length.
Carpenter ants, although they excavate wood they do not consume wood.
Saw dust produced by the ants' destruction is called frass.
Workers are omnivorous and will scavenge on dead arthropods for proteins.
They do not sting, however, they will deliver a fairly painful bite if handled.
Carpenter ants can be very difficult to eliminate. The nest must be found and destroyed in order to guarantee the risk of future infestation. Ellington Pest can help you eliminate these ants and prevent them from ever returning in the future.
What you can do
Treatment. Once carpenter ants have entered your home little can be done from a homeowners perspective. A major misconception, carpenter ants do not eat wood. They do however excavate the wood with the use of there strong jaws and cause problematic damage to your home. Some homeowners try ant baits however they have little effect overall on the colony. In many cases using ant baits will worsen the ant problem in your home. We do not recommend it.
Prevention.
Keeping organic growth away from your home is key. This is not limited to the foundation and lower levels of the house as well the roof line and branches from trees contacting the structure. In some extreme case these ants even make there way over on power lines and enter your home. It is critical to monitor your home for ant activity. Keep an eye on the kitchen and bathrooms in your home. These are two very common areas we see the beginning stages of carpenter ant infestations as they forage for food and water.
What EFPC can do
Treatment.
We have a wide variety of treatment strategies to combat carpenter ant infestations. Like many different species elimination of the main colony is the key to success. Many products we utilize for the elimination of Carpenter ants will cause colony elimination not just kill the ants that come in contact with the materials. Did you know in 2023 we provided over 1,400 of these services! Carpenter ants are extremely common and widespread throughout our state. We are so confident in our Carpenter ant treatments we even provide up to a one full year warranty for no additional cost.
Prevention.
Like prevention you can do we also look for the same contributing factors. In addition to some other areas beyond the yard that we call the buffer zone near the wood line. These areas can harbor main and satellite colonies of these ants. We simply understand the approach that works best for total elimination to protect what really matters, your home and your peace of mind.
