Having a long line of ants marching into your home can be quite annoying as they crowd around tiny spill drops of sugary drinks or a drip of honey you weren’t even aware was on your countertops. But to have a steady stream of carpenter ants marching along your floors carries a whole different level of concern. While carpenter ants do not eat wood the way that termites do, they can still cause a lot of damage to your home because they make their burrows inside the wooden beams, effectively weakening the structure over time. The presence of carpenter ants in your home is more than an annoyance and the sooner you eliminate the problem, the less damage will be done to your home. If you see or suspect a carpenter ant problem in your home already, the best line of defense is to call in a professional to eliminate every last one of them from the property.
Identifying carpenter ants
Compared to other common ants, carpenter ants are quite large. If you see a trail of ants winding through your halls, the size alone will cause you to pause. Carpenter ants are often solid black or brown. Some carpenter ants can have red heads and thorax, while their abdomens are black. The ants should be easily seen in the home if they are present. If you are able to identify ants in the home and you think they may be carpenter ants, following their trail to see where they are going could be crucial in finding their nests. To eradicate a carpenter ant problem, the queen and all the eggs must also be eliminated, not just the ants you see looking for food in your kitchen.
If you see an ant-like bug with wings, you may be looking at a carpenter ant or possibly a termite. Look closely at the antennae. The ant will have an elbowed antenna while a termite will have a straight, unbent antenna. Ants also have two sets of wings that vary in length while termites have two sets of wings that are both the same length. Regardless if it is a carpenter ant or a termite, your home could sustain a good amount of damage from these tiny creatures. Time is of the essence when it comes to keeping your home intact while avoiding thousands of dollars worth of repairs to be done.
What attracts carpenter ants?
Carpenter ants make their nests in wood that is wet or moist. Leaks or even high humidity that allows the wood to soften with moisture is the perfect scenario to draw a colony of carpenter ants into your home.
What to do if you think you have carpenter ants
- Identify the bug. It is good to know if it is a carpenter ant or a termite
- Follow the trail to find where in the house the nest may be
- Look for leaks or moisture in your home and fix it
- Call a professional pest control service to eliminate the carpenter ants
If you are in Passaic County and are looking for a professional to eliminate your carpenter ant problem, give the friendly, experienced team at Abarb Pest Services a call today.
