If the painful pinches start and remind you of their presence, ants are known to pilfer fallen crumbs, and their never-ending numbers can be more than a nuisance. Among the countless types of ants in the area, carpenter ants are common in Texas. These ants are not only common, but they can be detrimental to your home. Carpenter ants are sometimes confused with termites since they are frequently discovered infesting wooden structures and possessions. Though carpenter ants do not eat wood, unlike termites, but they do excavate through the wood making galleries, or tunnels, as they construct their nests in the wood. Carpenter ants are nearly as destructive as termites as they cause significant damage that makes the wood weak. Today, we at A Five Start Termite and Pest Control would like to expound on carpenter ants.

Carpenter Ant Identification

In the United States, one of the largest species of ants is carpenter ants and in length, they average between 1/8 and 33/64 inches. Though these ants are commonly black, some carpenter ant species can differ in color from the jet black to dark brown in addition to other light brown, orange, red, yellow, and yellowish tan variations. There are a few distinct characteristics the worker carpenter ants carry, like larger mandibles.

Carpenter Ant VS Termite Damage

Both inside and outside decaying, moist, or hollow wood variations draw in carpenter ants. From the damp or damaged wood, the carpenter ants prefer to excavate the galleries to settle in their colonies. The galleries are the tunnels they cut into the grain of wood to form the nests in order to provide passageways for movement from section to section of the nest. Unlike subterranean termites that line their galleries with moist soil, carpenter ants are clean, and their nesting site is kept tidy where galleries are smooth, as if these galleries were sanded. Carpenter ants tend to nest in rotting log and stumps as well and will live in both dead and living trees are home to carpenter ants. They will frequently invade homes or buildings since carpenter ants prefer living in natural environments if their nests have been exposed to extreme moisture. As previously mentioned, carpenter ants do not eat the wood like termites do but will remove the wood remnants into small piles outside their nests. Whenever possible, carpenter ants prefer to eat human scraps, but they favor the sweets as well as meats and will also devour other insects.

Signs of Carpenter Ants

Before the damage gets extensive, you can frequently spot the red flags, particularly if you are more aware of the signs of carpenter ants.
1) Due to their daily activities, rustling sounds in the wood can be heard.
2) Piles of saw dust, discarded wings, parts of dead ants, and other debris is in an indication of carpenter ants.
3) Observing workers and swarmers that have wings inside the home. Once the colony is established swarmers are reproducers that leave the colony. Once they find a place, they shed the wings and begin the new nest.

Ant Control in Canyon Lake, Spring Branch, Bulverde, Timberwood Park, Leon Valley, Alamo Heights, New Braunfels, Selma, Live Oak, Converse, Universal City, Cibolo, Seguin, New Berlin, St Hedwig, Adkins, La Vernia, Elmendorf, Losoya, Von Ormy, Macdona & San Antonio, Texas

If you suspect carpenter ants in your Texas home, call A Five Star Termite and Pest Control and let our certified experts take care of the rest.