Carpenter ants can be black, red, or a combination of both colors. They have segmented bodies with pinched waists. Growing to about half an inch in length, carpenter ants have six legs and a set of elbowed antennae. The reproductive members of a carpenter ant colony have two sets of wings of different lengths.
Carpenter ants have varied diets. They enjoy sweet foods, frequently feeding on honeydew and fruit and plant juices. They also consume proteins and eat a variety of insects. When they get indoors, they’ll eat many of the foods that humans eat, including meats, sweets, and fatty foods.
A common misconception is that carpenter ants eat wood. While they chew through wood to build tunnels and nests, they don’t actually eat the wood.
Carpenter ants are not dangerous to your health, but they are dangerous to your property. They build nests inside wooden structures by tunneling into the wood, weakening it over time.
If carpenter ants get into your house and stay for an extended period, they can cause extensive damage to important structural elements.
Typically, carpenter ants are less destructive than termites. The main difference is that carpenter ants only tunnel into wood to build nests, while termites feed on the wood for sustenance.
However, this doesn’t mean carpenter ant damage is inconsequential. It’s estimated that carpenter ants cause hundreds of millions of dollars in structural damage in the United States each year.
Carpenter ants can enter your home through any small opening. They often get inside while foraging for food and may decide to stay if they find a good food source and a suitable nesting location.
Cracks in your foundation, small gaps around your windows or doors, and openings around utility lines can provide entry points for carpenter ants. They also frequently use tree branches as bridges to access your roof and then find a way inside.
Carpenter ants nest inside wood. Outdoors, they use tree trunks, stumps, wood piles, rotting fence posts, and similar locations.
Indoors, they look for wood structures, such as furniture, beams, and window and door frames. Carpenter ants prefer water-damaged wood, so they are often found in areas with moisture or water leaks.
Several signs indicate carpenter ants have entered your house. These include:
If you see carpenter ants in your house or notice any signs of their presence, contact a professional pest control company immediately. Carpenter ants won’t go away on their own. Their colony will continue to grow as long as it remains, and the damage they cause will increase over time.
The Pied Piper offers carpenter ant control services to eliminate your carpenter ant problem. We’ll begin by inspecting your home to determine if carpenter ants are present. If they are, we’ll recommend a treatment plan that targets these pests and prevents them from returning.
The best way to stop a carpenter ant infestation is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Preventing carpenter ants will save you money on costly damage repairs. Try these carpenter ant prevention strategies to maintain a carpenter ant-free home:
By combining carpenter ant prevention strategies with an ongoing pest prevention plan from The Pied Piper, you can avoid dealing with carpenter ants and the damage they cause.
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Azle, TX
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Eufaula, OK
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Eufaula, OK
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