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All About Carpenter Ants Anyone who has trees on their property has probably seen carpenter ants in their home at one time or another. Carpenter ants are typically large ants, although the size of the workers can vary in a single colony. Finding one or two carpenter ants a week in a home is not necessarily a sign of an infestation. Foraging ants roam far and wide looking for food and an occasional ant trapped in a sink or bathtub is quite common. If there are trees close to the home, ants can be blown off the trees onto the roof. They may end up trapped within the home during their journey back to the nest.
The first thing to remember about carpenter ants is that they do not eat wood! They get their name from their habit of hollowing out wood in order to make a suitable nesting site. In addition to wood, carpenter ants will nest in synthetic foam and rigid board insulation (RBI) panels. A good indication of a carpenter ant infestation within a home is the presence of numerous foraging ants, especially in the kitchen or bathroom. Water attracts carpenter ants as much as food and moist wood around leaky pipes and drains provides an ideal environment for nesting ants. Another sign of an infestation is the presence of large winged ants in late spring and early summer.
Most carpenter ant colonies start outdoors in a tree cavity. After a few years, the colony grows and expands its foraging territory. If suitable conditions are found within a nearby home, satellite colonies may become established in voids, moist wood, or foam panels in the home. These satellite colonies will contain workers, older larvae, pupae, and when conditions are right, some winged reproductives. Once a satellite colony has become established within a structure, the potential for finding additional satellite colonies increases dramatically.
Control of a carpenter ant infestation must start with a complete and thorough inspection. Useful inspection tools include a flashlight, a thin bladed screwdriver for probing the wood, a stethoscope, and a moisture meter for locating high moisture areas. Since carpenter ants are most active at night, the best time to perform an inspection is after dusk. However, this can be impractical for residential accounts. Two prime considerations should be kept in mind while performing an inspection; find the voids and follow the water. Although carpenter ants are usually found in wood, any dark, damp cavity can provide a suitable nesting site. Carpenter ants make a noise like crinkling cellophane as they move about. A stethoscope makes them much easier to hear and locate. Tapping the suspect area excites the ants and you should be able to hear their movement.
When carpenter ants burrow into wood they generate sawdust or frass that can pile up beneath the site of their activity. Carpenter ant frass looks like tiny wood shavings and will often contain parts of dead insects. Look closely at all of the wood directly above any frass piles for signs of an infestation. Probing the wood with a thin bladed screwdriver can reveal hollowed out areas.
In addition to food and a nesting site, carpenter ants require water. That's one of the reasons they prefer to nest in damp wood. A moisture meter is a great tool for discovering actual and potential carpenter ant nesting sites. A moisture reading of over 20% is an indication of some type of water problem that needs to be corrected.
TREATMENTS
Correcting water leaks from faulty plumbing and roof leaks is the most important step for long-term carpenter ant control. Even after any leaks have been repaired, enough moisture may remain to sustain a carpenter ant infestation for many months. The application of a contact pesticide directly to the colony is not the best way to control an infestation. Most contact pesticides are highly repellent causing the ants to scatter, thus creating the potential for additional satellite colonies to become established in other areas of the home. In addition, contact pesticides do not impart any long-term residual protection to the wood. After a few months, carpenter ants may return to the site of their original infestation.
A better way to control a carpenter ant infestation is to treat the infested area and those areas subject to infestations with borates.
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