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Here are some steps to help you find and destroy a carpenter ant nest indoors and out. As this habit can cause serious damage to structures, it is extremely important to begin removing carpenter ants as soon as they are identified. Carpenter ants prefer moist and humid environments, and forage mostly late in the day or at night.
What’s the Difference? Identifying Termite vs. Carpenter Ant Damage
Once a colony is well established, you usually need to locate and treat the actual nest site for permanent or long-term control. In the case of a satellite colony, the parent colony should be located and destroyed for most effective control. They dig tunnels (called galleries) much longer than those created by termites.
How to Identify and Get Rid of Carpenter Ants
Remember to keep the ant baits away from children and pets including homemade and store-bought baits. An ant infestation can be frustrating to exterminate but borax is one of the best and safest products to use indoors to control ants. Rest assured that they are not structural house pests like carpenter ants.
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You may initially see even more ants, but be patient — it may take up to two weeks or longer to achieve control. They play a crucial role in breaking down organic matter and nutrient cycling. Workers gather honeydew excretions from mealybugs, aphids, scale insects, and plant hoppers, feed on nectar from plants, and consume both living and dead insects. Dealing with ants can be horrifying, but with these four tricks, you can permanently bid farewell to those pesky little pests.
The first appearance of winged males in a home often causes homeowners great concern, as it signifies that ants are living inside the house. The presence of a carpenter ant nest is sometimes indicated by a rustling sound that will come from wall voids or from wood where the nest is located when the winged forms are disturbed. If you see one ant, it likely signals you may have an infestation.
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For serious infestations, consider calling a pest-control agency. To prevent carpenter ants from coming back, mix equal parts water and vinegar in a spray bottle, and spray your baseboards, windowsills, and countertops with it. You should also keep your kitchen as clean as possible since carpenter ants are attracted to crumbs and food spills. Finally, make sure to seal entrances, like doors and windows, and cut back brushes or trees that carpenter ants could nest in. To learn how to tell the differences between carpenter ants and termites, keep reading.
Lola is a graduate student, who completed her degree in Psychology at the University of Sussex. While you may not want to go around drawing all over your walls and furniture, chalk lines can be a great way to disrupt the scent trail of ants due to their calcium carbonate content. “Carpenter ants are a fairly avoidable problem if people are doing regular maintenance with their house and noticing if there is a problem with the wood,” he says.
Replace Wet, Decaying Wood
You may need to examine an ant closely under a magnifying glass to verify its identity. Borax is also used as an ingredient in enamel glazes, as a fire retardant, as a component in ceramics, glass and pottery, and for making indelible ink among other commercial applications. Borax is often used for water-softening including removing both temporary and permanent types of hardness.
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These perimeter applications may use residual pesticides that will kill any stray ants that attempt to enter your home in the following weeks and months, thereby preventing reinfestation. Carpenter ants are often confused with termites since both insects can cause substantial damage to the wood in a home's walls. Carpenter ants do not actually eat the wood, but instead, hollow it out with an extensive network of tunnels in which to establish colonies. This tunneling gradually opens up the wood to more moisture, more rot, and more weakening.
In fact, it is advisable that you substitute borax for boric acid if you notice that the ants are not attracted to the borax bait. Studies show that some ant species are more likely to reject borax baits than boric acid baits and vice-versa. "A strong scent of cinnamon makes these tasks difficult for ants, so they need to leave this space and find another one," she says. But, it does help to deter them due to that aroma that we humans enjoy so immensely. "The scent of cinnamon itself doesn’t kill ants. However, it makes the life of ants much more difficult."
These tiny creatures, often referred to as “sugar ants,” are more formally known as odorous house ants (Tapinoma sessile). Carpenter ants are sometimes confused with termites, but it is easy to tell the difference between them. The termite has straight antennae and a thick waist, and the carpenter ant has a very narrow waist and "elbowed" (bent) antennae.
“If you discover carpenter ants in your home, it’s probably an indication you have a moisture problem. They look for soft, water-damaged wood, then use your house as a satellite nest and incubator for their brood,” says Benson. Once homeowners have identified the warning signs of carpenter ants living in a home, there are a few carpenter ant treatment measures to help mitigate the issue. “The best method of controlling an indoor colony of carpenter ants is to locate the nest and treat it directly with a persistent insecticide labeled for indoor use,” says Russell. The best carpenter ant killers can be purchased at a hardware or garden store.
This variation in wing size helps to distinguish carpenter ants from winged termites, which have two sets of wings that are roughly equal in size. Carpenter ants usually gain access to buildings through cracks around doors and windows, holes for wires, or straight through wet, damaged wood. They will also crawl along overhead wires, shrubs, or tree limbs that touch the building far above the ground. Although carpenter ants first invade wet, decayed wood, they may eventually build paths through dry, undamaged wood, too. Once you have identified where the carpenter ants are coming from, it is important to eliminate any sources of moisture or food sources that may be attracting them and seal off entry points.
Where you live does matter—for example, the black carpenter ant that lives in the Northern U.S. is more likely to make its home indoors than southern species. Fortunately, carpenter ants don’t pose a significant threat to your health, as they don’t spread disease, and while their bites can be painful, they’re not dangerous and they don’t bite often. There are multiple carpenter ant species, and they vary by color and size. However, the most common carpenter ants in North America are relatively large, from 1/4 inch up to 5/8 inch in length. These wings assist the ants in swarming to find a new location for a colony, which happens in the spring—May through August in the Eastern U.S. and February through June in the West.
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