Unlike carpenter ants, termites eat wood. Carpenter ants have wings with different lengths while termites have pairs of wings that are similar in length. Their antennae shape is different as well. Termites have straight antennae while carpenter ants have bent antennae. Catching a carpenter ant infestation early is important to avoid damage to your home. Check out a few signs that these ants have invaded. Ant Sightings: Worker ants will leave the nest to forage for food. Spotting these ants is the main sign of an infestation.
Finding Ant Wings: After mating, swarming carpenter ants lose their wings. Finding discarded wings near doors and windows is often a sign of an ant problem.
Wood Shavings: As carpenter ants tunnel, they remove wood and dead insects that are in their way. These wood shavings are called frass and can be found near walls, on the floor, and under wooden objects.
Hollow Wood: The longer carpenter ants go unnoticed, the more damage they produce. To check for this damage, tap your walls and see if it sounds hollow. Small Holes in Wood: Though most carpenter ants are hidden, the ants may leave behind small clues to their presence.
Finding small, round holes in wood can indicate a carpenter ant infestation. This hole is used to remove wood debris from their nests. The process of tunneling can cause rustling noises. Carpenter ants also make rustling noises when disturbed to communicate with others in the colony.
Tap any areas where you suspect they are hiding, and then listen. Locating the nest will be helpful in eliminating the infestation.
Here are a few tips for finding the location of the nest. Check Damp Areas: Check your home and yard for spots where moisture accumulates. When examining the interior of your home the wood near doors, windows, sinks, showers, and appliances should be inspected.
Listen for Them: If you notice rustling noises, see if you can find the source. Tap your walls to see if you can locate hollow areas. Follow Their Trails: If you come across a trail of foraging ants, follow them. Carpenter ants are most active in the evening, so this will be your best chance to spot them. Preventing a pest problem is always easier than fighting an infestation.
Check out a few things you can do to keep carpenter ants away. They nest outside in dead, damp wood, building smooth, distinctive-looking nests. They remove wood to create passageways through wood grain to provide access to various nest areas known as galleries. Indoors, carpenter ants nest in any natural hollow, such as hollow-core doors, window sills, and wall voids.
Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat wood; however, they damage wood, from hollowing out trees to damaging the materials used in the construction of buildings.
Sometimes you can find their nesting location by observing the presence of frass, the very fine sawdust they leave behind when constructing nests. They are dark brown to black, but some may have red or yellow coloration.
The Black carpenter ant, Camponotus pennsylvanicus , in the east and C. Other species of Camponotus are distributed throughout the country. The queens are slightly bigger than the workers.
The workers of an established colony vary in size. The most common variety of carpenter ant is large and black, but the Florida carpenter ant is smaller and ranges in color from yellow, red, brown to black. Carpenter Ants are controlled through the application of insecticides and sprays in various forms.
These forms include liquid concentrates, baits, dusts, and foams. The first step in controlling carpenter ants is an inspection. The purpose of the inspection is to determine if they are located outside and simply foraging inside for food, or if you have a colony or satellite colony inside your home.
Once you complete your inspection and identify nest locations and foraging trails, the next step is to determine which control measure to use. The final step is to prevent further infestations by ant-proofing your home and yard, by clearing away rotting trees and lumber piles, fixing plumbing leaks, etc.
Apply carpenter ant baits after inspecting their trails. The ant baits listed below are designed to attract carpenter ants. The foraging carpenter ants pick up the bait and share it with the entire colony, killing it.. A good treatment choice is to bait both inside and the ground outside with a combination of baits.
Maxforce Fleet is a Fipronil carbohydrate-based gel with a high moisture content that gets rid of ants within days. If the carpenter ants are feeding on sugar, they will eat it and store it and regurgitate it later to share with other ants. Apply Maxforce Fleet with the syringe applicator or bait injector in small amounts where you see the ants running.
Nitrile Chemical Resistant Gloves. Basic Safety Kit. Professional Safety Kit with Comfo Respirator. Product Recommendations. Quick View Pro Pick. Termidor SC. How To Apply Bait Outdoors : Apply a 2 to 4 foot band of bait such as Niban Granular Bait or Advance Carpenter Ant Bait around the perimeter of your home and around the base of trees, firewood piles, stumps, or other places carpenter ants might nest.
Additional Indoor Baiting Tips: Remove competitive food sources. Practicing good sanitation is the best way to remove food particles or spills that may serve to deter ants from accepting chemical baits.
Always use fresh bait. As a rule, only place baits with packaging that was opened within the last 6 months. Do not use residual sprays or dusts anywhere near bait placements. Doing so may either kill ants before they can take the bait or repel them from seeking out chemical bait.
It is better to err on the side of too many bait placements than too few. If possible, place baits at all potential entry points.
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