In all natural ecosystems, carpenter ants play a major role. Unfortunately, when they end up in homes, they become dangers. It is therefore necessary to eliminate these insects as soon as possible. Except that they are insects that look like termites. So how to recognize carpenter ants in the house?
What is a carpenter ant?
A carpenter ant is an insect that lives in colonies in its nest called an anthill. The colony is hierarchical with a queen at the head followed by workers and finally soldiers. The size of a carpenter ant is 6-25 mm. It is easily invited into homes especially during winters because of the wood (tree, windows, doors, frame, etc.) that is there.
Elements to detect the presence of carpenter ants at home
It is not enough to find ants in the house to conclude an invasion by carpenter ants. The latter can easily be confused with termites. Several particular elements are to be used to recognize them.
Shape
In addition to its characteristic length that we talked about a little above, the carpenter ant is recognizable by its shape. It is subdivided into three parts: the head, thorax and abdomen. Its head and mandibles are highly developed. Thus, she manages to eat the wood well.
Its round thorax is connected to the abdomen by the petiole which is very thin. The insect has segmented and arched antennae. During childbirth, carpenter ants of all kinds are winged.
Color
Carpenter ants have a red or black color (the so-called wood-spoiled species). The one that is red has the particularity of having a thorax tinged with red or brown. On the other hand, the wood cake that behaves exactly like the carpenter ant is a uniform black tinged with brown.
All these similarities between the carpenter ant and the wood spoiler species mean that color cannot be the only element to be used to identify carpenter ants. However, color is an essential element to consider.
Presence of sawdust
Omnivorous, carpenter ants eat everything and especially other insects. Some people think they feed on wood. This is not true. They just use wood to build their anthills. To achieve this, they are forced to chew wood and produce sawdust.
Therefore, if they are present in your home, you will know from the trail of sawdust that usually leads to their nests. Sawdust is identifiable near doors, windows, on the ground below the wood frame, in the basement …
Damaged wood structures
Carpenter ants can establish their nests in wood. For this, these insects are forced to dig the wood, including that of the structure of your building. So if you notice damaged areas at the level of this wooden structure, tell yourself that you are most likely in the presence of carpenter ants. Generally, it is the woods located in the shade or near wetlands that are attacked by these critters.
Infestation by carpenter ants: what to do?
Faced with an invasion by carpenter ants, you need to react very quickly. By yourself, you can stop it by using chemical/biological insecticides. Once these insects are dead, other ants will carry them to their nests to feed. Thus, they will all die including the queen.
Often, the invasion is so large that you will not be able to eliminate all the ants distributed in several satellite colonies. In addition, the affected wood will have to be treated deeply. In these cases, call on the experts in antiparasitic termination that we are.
Indeed, our company Exterminateur in Montreal has the know-how and experience necessary to overcome any invasion by carpenter ants. We eliminate them entirely and then prevent the formation of other nests.
