It’s common to confuse a carpenter ant with a
termite. This is because some carpenter ants have wings, but these are only the reproductive kings and queens.
However, when comparing carpenter ants vs termites, pay attention to the color of the pest. Termites are usually brown or red, whereas carpenter ants are usually darker. However, they can be red, brown, black, orange, or yellow.
It’s also important to understand signs of carpenter ants in the house, as this can help you identify this bug of the month. Additionally, knowing how to get rid of carpenter ants helps with understanding this insect and ways to keep it out of your house.
How Big Are Carpenter Ants?
Carpenter ants vary in size. Worker ants are between ¼ and ½ inch. Queens can be ¾ of an inch. As stated, their colorings vary, which is why people confuse them for termites.
What Do Carpenter Ants Eat?
When outside, carpenter ants eat different insects, both living and dead. Outdoors, they look for
honeydew produced by scale insects, including aphids. If carpenter ants get into your house, they’ll eat sweets from your kitchen, including jelly, honey, syrup, sugar, pet food, and meat.
Unlike termites, carpenter ants don’t eat wood. They do, however, chew wood, tunneling through it to make nests.
Signs of Carpenter Ants
If you have carpenter ants, you might hear rustling noises in your walls or inside woodwork in your house. You may see carpenter ant frass. This looks like wood shavings but are feces and droppings left behind by these pests.
You may also see sawdust if carpenter ants chew the wood in your home, or find hollow wood in or around your house, along with woodshaving piles.
Additionally, big, black ants are a sign you have carpenter ants in your house.
Do Carpenter Ants Bite?
If you disturb a carpenter ant’s nest, you may get a carpenter ant bite. They do this as a self-defense mechanism. Since these insects are big, these bites can hurt. They may even break the skin, leading to more pain.
Carpenter ants aren’t venomous, but you could still react to their bite. This might require medical attention. Carpenter ants do, however, have a formic acid substance they spray as they bite. This can cause one of their bites to be even more painful.
Where Do Carpenter Ants Live?
Carpenter ants look for any kind of decaying or dead wood to nest inside. This might be stumps, logs, trees, or branches. Some carpenter ants nest in the soil. Additionally, carpenter ants look for building materials that have been damaged due to moisture. This includes sheds, homes, and various piles of wood.
Do Carpenter Ants Carry Disease?
Although ants don’t transmit or
carry disease like a tick does, for example, they can still transport various types of illness, especially food-borne ones.
This could even be a serious
food-borne illness like salmonella. But how is salmonella transmitted by carpenter ants?
For starters, ants can harbor different kinds of
toxigenic microorganisms. This means they can transfer them to your food. When ants come into contact with your food or food prep surfaces — especially in your kitchen they can contaminate your food, leading to various food-borne illnesses.
How to Prevent Carpenter Ants
To get rid of
carpenter ants, it’s best to follow a few precautions around the home. Consider the following:
- Be mindful of moisture issues in and around your home
- Fix leaky pipes or other signs of moisture
- If you have firewood, stack it away from your house and off the ground
- If there is vegetation around your home, such as landscaping, keep it pruned and away from your house, preventing carpenter ant entry points
- Vacuum, sweep, and mop your house regularly
- Keep food crumbs off floors
- Clean eating areas, removing food debris and crumbs, especially counters, sinks, and tables
If you still have carpenter ants and suspect you have an infestation,
contact a professional pest control technician in Sparta, NJ.
Carpenter Ants 101
If you have carpenter ants and suspect it’s an infestation, don’t wait. They can transmit food-borne illnesses and even cause expensive damage to your home.
Since carpenter ants are something that falls under “general home maintenance,” any damage they cause most likely isn’t covered by your homeowner's insurance. The same goes for termites.
This is why you need routine pest control. Serene Property Services can help. We offer pest control in Sussex County, NJ, and Warwick, NY.
Contact us today for an estimate.
