Carpenter Ants are members of the arthropod kingdom that form tunnels inside moist wood and reside in them. If you’re facing such issue contact us. our house can get eaten away by carpenter ants and you won’t even notice. We already have enough problems to deal with but pests in our house has to be the ugliest of them all. You would never want to go back to a home infested with insects, would you? To be honest, you cannot stop insects from invading your house but you can surely take the steps to eliminate them.

There are 200 million insects for each person on our planet. If that wasn’t enough, there are nearly a hundred insect species in your house right now. We have all heard of termites and flies but there is something else that’s destroying your house. Yes, you guessed it right. We are talking about carpenter ants. 

In this article, we shall be informing you all about these insects. We will primarily focus on the following concerns.

• What are carpenter ants?
• Where do they live?
• How can they damage your house?
• How to detect the presence of these ants?
• How to get rid of carpenter ants?

After reading the entire article, you would know if your house is infested with these insects and the steps you would need to take in order to eliminate them. Let’s know more about these tiny creatures.

Carpenter Ants : All about the Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants are members of the arthropod kingdom that form tunnels inside moist wood and reside in them. They are omnivores and mainly feed on sugary items or carcasses of other insects. Just like the bees, these ants also have subdivisions in their colony.

A colony of these ants consists of a fertile female, few fertile males, infertile ants known as workers and winged swarmers. Let’s see what roles do each of these groups play.

The queen is the fertile ant in the group and is responsible for giving birth to other ants. A queen’s lifespan ranges from five to twenty five years. She has the upper hand in choosing the males she wishes to reproduce with. On an average, a queen ant lays upto ten thousand eggs. This is the reason why ant colonies grow so fast.

The males of the species have pretty much no role apart from competing for and copulating with the queen. They do not indulge in any of the work that goes into building an ant colony or gathering food.

The workers are the main hustlers of the group. They are infertile and work to put together a colony. They gather food, clean their living space and serve the queen. 

The swarmers are a subtype of the workers group. These are winged and can form a colony other than the main residing group. Swarmers build a different colony if they get ample amounts of food and moisture. Their colony consists of worker ants, growing larvae and of course, the swarmers.

Where to find them in your house?

You now have a precise idea about how these ants group and live. The relevant question is how do they enter your house? Why should you be bothered by them? Well, here’s the answer.

Carpenter ants enter your house through open doors, windows and holes in your walls, furniture or stacks of wood. In short, they have a pretty easy access to your house. After they enter your house, they start building their nest. 

These ants dig through your wooden walls or furniture and reside inside them. So, if you have wooden floors, walls, beds or furniture, it’s very likely that you are providing shelter to these ants. Now, these ants don’t start digging randomly into any wooden structure.

They choose the weakest wood in your house. This means that wood which is already manifested with mold or is always exposed to moisture are the favourite targets of these ants. It is because weaker wood is easy to dig through. 

We will now come  to the main question. Why should you care for these insects? Because the ants can and will weaken your house and furniture over time. When the ants dig through wood, they make it hollow from within. This reduces the strength of the wooden structure and makes it vulnerable to collapse. 

These ants are apparently harmless. They do not cause any serious health complication and are not as annoying as cockroaches. But, they will weaken your house gradually and you will have to pay a heavy price for rebuilding it again.

Signs of Carpenter Ants in House

These ants are pretty easy to identify because of their large size. They are the largest in the USA and have the usual colors. These are mostly black and brown but some might also be yellow. The swarmer have wings. So, if you see such small insects flying around your house, you would need to take immediate action.

Another helpful signs of carpenter ants in house is the ants’ waste products. If your house is manifested with these ants, you will see small mounts of dust heaps. These heaps consist of sand like particles and contain the excreta and carcasses of the ants. You will locate the heaps mainly near holes in your wooden structures. 

Unlike termites, the ants never shit in their living space. They dig a hole to away from their space and collect the waste there. 

You can also notice that the wooden surfaces become wrinkled and feel like rough sandpaper. If you find your walls, floor or furniture to have such surfaces, you can doubt the presence of this mighty insects.

Carpenter Ants Damage : Health hazards

These ants do not possess any such health risks. But they have strong jaws and a sharp sting. This means that they do bite and cause redness. Also, their sting contains formic acid that irritates the skin and causes inflammation. that is how carpenter ants damage become a serious issue .

Once these ants grow in your house, it can get very difficult to control them. You are bound to come across them and get bitten here and there. Also, if you spot such ants, it means your house is in danger too. Hence, you would need the help of an expert pest controller to rid you of the insects once and forever.

How to get rid of carpenter ants?

You might be thinking that all this knowledge is well and good but how do we actually get rid of these pests specially how to get rid of carpenter ants? We are ready with the answer. Read on to find the solution to this problem.

For this we will provide you a list of methods that you can use to make your house free from the pests.

• Locate the nesting area of the ants. This is the most crucial step to remove the ant manifestation. If you know where the ants are exactly residing, you can kill the entire ants population at one go.

• Use poisoned baits to lure the ants out of their residing area. The baits are food particles coated with chemicals that kill the ants by disrupting their metabolism. You can find numerous bait kits in the market. All of those work well and you don’t need to spend much on them.

• There is a moderate chance that your baits might fail. This is because the ants can easily find food crumbs and other dead insects to feed on. Hence, you will need to spray insecticides in the holes of your wooden furniture.

• Find the tunnels where the ants reside, put the bait and also spray the insecticide. This will increase the likelihood of the ants getting killed.

• Once you have removed the ant population, you will need to fill in the holes built by the ants. For this, you should first make sure the holes are completely free of the ants. Many a times, a few ants remain and they give rise to another colony in no time. In order to avoid that, inspect every location before you plan to seal the gaps.

• After you have completed your inspection, cover the holes with silicone tapes or other strong, water-resistant material. This will prevent the further swarming of colonies in the future. Make sure you don’t leave any area unchecked as this will again bring in trouble.

• These were the steps you needed to know about how to kill carpenter ants. However, we wish give you a valuable advice. If you are not sure about your inspection, please call in an expert who is acquainted with killing pests.

A professional will know the exact places to look into, provide you with good insecticides and also make sure that your house is well protected.

There are many people who shy away from spending on insecticides just for the price tag. They then start concocting their own chemical formula to kill the pests. But we would recommend you not to fall prey to such Do It Yourself a.k.a. DIY trends. These methods are ineffective and end up wasting your time.

We agree that there are expensive pesticides available in the market. But you do not need them. You can buy a bottle of aerosol or foam spray and your work will be done.

There are several brands that provide you huge kits to repel the pests. However, you don’t need to buy them because most of the products don’t even get used. So, invest in a good bottle of insecticide to permanently remove the ants. Better still, you can seek professional help who will do the entire process for you at a nominal price.

Carpenter Ants : Prevention

Yes, prevention is always better than cure. It does not matter whether your house has been infested by these ants or not. You need to be very cautious and keep checking if you have holes in your wooden planks.

Make sure that you do not keep any logs inside your house. Ants often reside in logs and from there, they move into your house. So, keep the logs in a separate place outside your residence.

Check if you have any damp walls or furniture. Such issues can occur if you have faulty plumbing. Also, plumbing requires drilling holes into your walls and floor. Make sure that there is no such hole in your house because they can give rise to the carpenter ants. 

Before buying any wooden product, ensure that it does not have any holes and is well varnished. Also, do not let your wooden come in contact with moisture. It can be disastrous for your furniture as well as your house. carpenter ants prevention can safe you from this hitch .

Conclusion

Carpenter ants can often give you a headache. But let us tell you, the problem is fixable. It will cause you inconvenience for a few days but if you follow the proper course of elimination, you can get rid of these ants.

If you wish to avoid the problem altogether, start taking the preventive measures today and follow then religiously. Insects are tiny and they can enter through any gap. Hence, you would need to have a sharp eyesight and be careful about what your wooden furniture and house are getting exposed to.

If you have trees crowding their house, have higher chances of the pest infestation. You should regularly treat your plants and be aware of the insects that they attract. With a few precautions, your house will be safe from the problem of carpenter ants.

Act today to have a secure tomorrow. If you want to know more about us please visit our page restorationservices.org.