Carpenter Ants

Carpenter Ants are large black ants that can be easily found in the United States. They are notorious for infesting homes and buildings and cause damages to it. There are many different species of carpenter ants and the most commonly are the black carpenter ants and florida carpenter ants.

What They Eat

Carpenter ant can eat many different types of food, depending where they nest. When they invade home, they can feed on meats, syrup, honey, sugar, jelly and other sweets that contains protein and sugar. Outdoors, they will depend on living and dead insects for their food. They are also known to be very attracted to honeydew. One common misconception is that they eat wood as they damages them, but, in reality, they don't. They simply tunnel through the wood leaving a residue of sawdust or excavate wood so that they can build their homes in the cavities left behind.

Where They Live

Carpenter ants can make their nest in many places, though they prefer moist wood environemnt. Indoor, they can make their nests in walls, behind siding, in attic, insulation, decayed wood, bathroom tiles, tubs, sink, attic beams, showers and dishwashers or hollow spaces such as wall voids, curtain rods and doors. Outdoors, they can be found easily in rotting trees, tree roots, tree stumps and logs buried or lying on the ground

Damage

Carpenter ants damage wood by excavating and creating galleries and tunnels and it is quite difficult to discover the damages as the wood surfaces would remain fine. The level of damages may vary and in worst case scenario, the building might have a serious structural damage.

Prevention

Though regular visual inspections and preventive steps take, you might be able to prevent carpenter ants from invading your home. Check out some of these action plans:

1. Make an effort to trim trees and removes bushes that touch your home roofing and siding. This will help to minimize the possibilites of carpenter ants entering your premise though these 'doorways'.
2. We know that carpenter ants are attracted to moist, soft or rotting wood, so regular check and removed of any moist, soft or rotting wood, log stumps and waste wood around your house and surrounding will help to reduce the risk as well.
3. Examine and repair any cracks to the foundations as it will be easily used by carpenter ants or even termites for access.
4. Paid attention to all possible openings where pipes and wires enter the house must be tightly sealed and if there is any plumbing or outdoor water taps leak, repair them without delay. Check out roof edges, attics, door, windows frames as well.
5. Examine the firewood that you bring into the house to ensure that no carpenter ants resides on it and it is important that you never store these firewood on the ground or stack against the sides of the home. Stack them up off the ground with a non-organic material.