In case you spot a big black ant inside your house, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have carpenter ants destroying wood in the house. These ants could be nesting inside or outside your house and just foraging for food in your kitchen. The moment you spot these signs, the best way to deal with them is to go after their nest.
While this is a great strategy, finding a carpenter ant colony isn’t the simplest of things. After all, ants have the capability of scurrying away in mere seconds to impossible-to-find spaces whether it’s underneath the baseboard or behind the cupboard. Regardless, knowing where the ant colony is located, is the first step of your eradication process.
Types of Carpenter Ant Nests
The carpenter ant parent colonies are normally located outside, in some rare cases, they may be located inside your house too. The carpenter parent nests need to be in a moist, damp tunneled wood. Favorite spots include tree stumps, decaying logs, boards and logs buried underneath. If there is a parent nest inside your house, you may find it in dishwashers, sinks, showers, bathtubs, around the bathroom and kitchen tiles. The parent colony houses the queen, worker ants, and the brood.
Satellite colonies, on the other hand, have workers, mature larvae and the pupae. While parent nests are normally made in damp, moist areas, satellite colonies may be built in dry wood areas. These nests are more suitable for workers since the eggs may not survive in low humidity environments. Satellite nests may be found in hollow doors, insulation and wall voids.
It doesn’t matter how flawless your home plumbing may be and thus no moisture or wood rot, a satellite nest may still be present. For this particular reason, it’s very important that a carpenter ant nest is identified immediately you spot the signs of infestation.
Finding carpenter ant nests
Trailing carpenter ants back to their nest isn’t a simple task. Ants are very difficult insects to track due to their ability to sneak into spaces hard to find for humans. But with patience and the right set of tools, you can easily locate them.
If you can’t track the ants, the first place you need to check is outside in rotting or damp wood. The wood might be buried and not visible. It’s important to note that carpenter ants are very common outside, and finding one outside does not mean there isn’t another nest inside. Ants can travel up to 300 meters looking for food. They forage mostly at night, meaning tracking needs to be a commitment.
Finding nests indoors
Looking for nests inside the house is very important. This is because you might need to identify the damage immediately and eliminate the colony.
• Check for wood shavings. This is the most common sign of carpenter ant infestation. Frass or sawdust will be visible under beams in your attic or cellar.
• Look for swarmers. First identify is the ants are indeed ants and not termites. If they are ants, they could be nesting outside your house and getting in through cracks and openings in your windows or door frames. If they are swarming inside, it’s a clear indication that you have carpenter ants.
• Finding dead ants. If you can spot dead ants around your windows, it could be a sign of interior infestation.
• Moisture. Apart from foraging for food, ants need moisture for their egg’s survival. If you have wet wood in your home, it could be am an open invite to these nuisance critters. Therefore, check through pipes, rotting wood, and bathroom for signs of infestation.
The potential damage by carpenter ants in the home will largely depend on the size of the colony. The longer the infestation is ignored, the more damage property owners can expect. For that reason, if you suspect that you might have a carpenter ant infestation in your home, take the appropriate measures fast.
Carpenter ant nests aren’t the easiest to locate; most experts advise homeowners to tap into suspected locations (damaged areas) and wait for a rustling sound. This technique often causes the ants to panic appearing from the nest.
If you suspect that you have a carpenter ant infestation in your home, its advisable to call an ant control Toronto specialist to help you get rid of the problem.