What Are Carpenter Ants?

Carpenter ants are different from common or household ants. However, they are one of the most common types of ants in Virginia. It is important to be able to identify carpenter ants because they can do serious damage to your home. If you notice them around your home, you will need to exterminate them right away.

Where Do Carpenter Ants Build Their Colonies?

Carpenter ants will build their colonies in dead wood. They do not eat the wood like termites do, but they will chew it to create tunnels to live in. Since they do not eat the wood, you may see piles of sawdust in your home or around your yard. This is a sign that you may have carpenter ants. Carpenter ants like to build inside the wood of your home, which is how they were named.

How Do I Identify Carpenter Ants?

People can confuse carpenter ants with termites or household ants. Carpenter ants are larger than household ants. The grow up to ½ an inch in size. Carpenter ants are black. Termites look different from ants because their body is uniform in width without having the narrow waists that ants have. Carpenter ants can have wings. Only the queen and the reproductive males will have wings, and you may see them when they are looking to establish a new colony.

How Can I Check If My Home Has Carpenter Ants?

If you notice hollow sounding wood, you can knock on it. If there are carpenter ants, they will stream out of the wood. You may also notice them along the edges of your carpet or your baseboards. You may also see the ants in your window sill. You may find them when you pull up the carpenter of if you see the small piles of sawdust around your home.

What Do I Do If Find Carpenter Ants?

When you spot carpenter ants, you need to call an exterminator right away. They will continue to cause damage in your home until you treat for them. The longer you wait, the more extensive and expensive the damage will be. An exterminator can also inspect other areas of your home to make sure that you do not have any other issues with wood boring insects that can damage your home and give you an expected treatment plan. Once you have treated for the carpenter ants, you will need to make repairs so that your home is structurally sound. Other pests can find their way inside your home through the damage that they have caused.