Carpenter Ants
What is a Carpenter Ant?
(1/4 to 1/2 inch
long) Nesting in wet or water damaged wood they forage throughout the home
looking for food crumbs or insects. Although they come in many colors the
most important ones are black.
Where You'll Find
Carpenter Ants
The largest of the
ant family they take their name from their ability of chewing passageways
(or galleries) in wood. They live inside the wood leaving only to forage
(mostly at night) for food. They will set up satellite colonies inside the
home from their parent colonies outside in trees or landscape timber.
Carpenter ants love
damp climates and moist areas – wet or water damaged wood, any dark place,
and a few morsels of food. Areas that get a lot of rain are especially
susceptible. So are homes built in heavily wooded areas or in low, shady
places where the ground stays damp. In your home, you're likely to find
carpenter ants nesting around a sink in the kitchen or bathroom. Maybe
even around plumbing leaks, clogged gutters and downspouts, behind shower
walls where there is cracks where leaks can occur.
A clean house is no
guarantee. When carpenter ants move in, the first thing they do is look
for food. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat wood. They search for
syrup, honey, jelly, meat, fruit, grease, fat, and other domestic foods.
If these favorites are not available in your home, the ants will feed on
dead or living insects or any other type of organic matter.
Telltale Signs of
Carpenter Ants
-
Trails of workers around the kitchen, pantry, and
other areas where food is stored
-
Sawdust-like material that workers kick out of
their nests during excavation
-
Listen for ant sounds in the quiet of the night.
When the ants are chewing, or simply moving around in the nest, they
make a sound like rustling cellophane.
Nesting Sites of
Carpenter Ants
-
Dead limbs of living trees
-
Under attic insulation.
-
Hollow trees
-
Roofs
-
Interior wall voids
-
Hollow core doors
-
Under exterior siding
-
Ceilings
-
Supports in crawl space
-
Exterior wall voids
-
Stumps
-
Wood pile
-
Sill plates
-
Between insulation and
-
Roots of dead trees
To treat Carpenter
ants requires long term care by a professional. Unfortunately they can
travel several hundred yards, often coming from your neighbor’s yard.
Although we can not eliminate them from the outside we can maintain a
barrier around your home to protect it. These ants can and will do harm to
your home if left untreated and can cost thousands of dollars in damage.
If you
think you see any of these signs call us immediately
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