How to Effectively Deal With Carpenter Ant Infestation?
Do you think you are experiencing a carpenter ant infestation in your home? If so, you should get rid of them right now!
The Carpenter ant, or Camponotus spp., is a fairly large ant species notorious for terrorising Australian homeowners. If left untreated, they can cause significant damage to your property, as they enjoy munching and drilling on wood. It’s doubtful that anyone in the world would be willing to tolerate an ongoing carpenter ant infestation.
The pest controllers at Pest Police Australia have you covered on everything from correctly detecting carpenter ants to determining how to get rid of a persistent infestation.
Don’t put it off any longer. Continue reading to learn how to get rid of carpenter ants permanently.
Carpenter Ants: What Are They and What Do They Look Like?
The species of carpenter ants is polymorphic. They come in sizes between 3mm and 12mm. They can bore through wood thanks to the eight teeth on their mandibles.
They were given their name because they construct their nests out of wood, which can seriously harm your property. Because carpenter ants are most active at night, you rarely see them during the day.
Carpenter ants come in a wide spectrum of colours, from dark orange to nearly black, as is well known. They are frequently mistaken for other blackhouse ant species because of their black colour appearance.
What Do Carpenter Ants Eat?
Although they are called carpenter ants, they do not eat wood. They just drill holes through wet or decomposing wood to build their nest. Typically, these ant species would discard the wood outside of their nest.
So what do carpenter ants eat? In reality, sweet liquids like honeydew attract these large, black ants. Carpenter ants tend to aphids for their honeydew because of their sweet tooth. If you enjoy gardening, this could worsen an infestation because it could serve as an insect food source.
Where Are Carpenter Ants Frequently Found?
The abundance of carpenter ants across the entire continent of Australia is not all that surprising. They can live indoors and outdoors easily; once they get inside a house, they may start to bother people.
The most likely causes of the presence of these ants on or near your home are food and an appropriate nesting spot.
Carpenter ants prefer areas with high humidity and proximity to water, such as bathrooms and kitchens. We encourage you to properly evaluate any wooden structures in your home and backyard because humidity may be to blame for a variety of problems indoors, including damage to wooden furniture and foundations. By doing this, you can easily recognise the first indications of a carpenter ant infestation.
What is the Life Cycle of Carpenter Ants?
Only the queens survive after mating, and they start looking for the ideal location for their nest. They locate it, settle down, and then lay about 20 eggs, which take about 60 days to develop into adults.
There is one primary nest and several subsidiary nests where these ants live. Only the queen, her eggs, newly hatched larvae and workers are placed first. The latter assists in raising new babies. The larger larvae and winged ants live in the remaining Carpenter Ant nests.
What Are The Signs of a Carpenter Ant Infestation?
There are a few different ways to confirm that the large, black ants you’re spotting within your home are, in fact, carpenter ants. You may find signs to watch out for to spot a carpenter ant infestation below:
- Hearing a slight scratching or rustling sound in the woodwork or walls of your home. To build their nests, carpenter ants tunnel into the woodwork, and as they remove the wood’s fragments, they make noise.
- Noticing big, black ants inside your home.
- Detecting heaps of sawdust or wood shavings behind wooden structures like window sills, door jambs, and baseboards.
- Finding extensive ant roads or trails in your yard. This is one of the most obvious signs of carpenter ant infestation. Carpenter ants travel great distances to get food and return it to the nest.
- Spotting giant flying ants coming from your walls, floor joists, crawl space, hollow doors, and other obscure cracks and crevices.
- Finding ant droppings made up of loosely packed faeces and soft, fibrous chunks of wood.
- Seeing ant “swarmer” wing remnants close to window sills, baseboards, or vents.
If you see any of these signs, you may be hosting an active carpenter ant infestation and should contact a pest control expert immediately. These pests can seriously harm timber structures, leading to expensive structural damage and necessary repairs.
Steps to Identify a Carpenter Ant Infestation
To help you be guided further, here are some steps to help you identify or spot a carpenter ant infestation:
- Of course, you’ll need to investigate your property thoroughly. But remember that these ants are typically active in the evening, so you might have to wait until the night before a checkup.
- The nesting location is quite informative since, as we previously established, carpenter ants prefer to build their nests in wet, rotting, or old wood. Pay attention to your home’s interior walls and structure (particularly ones closer to the bathroom or kitchen). Additionally, look around the window frames. It is well known that certain species of Camponotus prefer window and even door frames to build their nests in.
- Although carpenter ants don’t eat wood, they bore through it, so it’s possible to notice wood that looks like sawdust near the nest.
- When foraging, carpenter ants are also known to travel quite a distance, so just because you’ve seen one or two ants doesn’t necessarily suggest that the nest is nearby. The nest may be all the way up in the attic, but you may have many ants in your kitchen.
- If you’ve focused your search for the nest, listen closely to see if you’re headed in the right direction. The ants will rustle if you tap on the wall. You can hear this sound if the environment is quiet enough.
How to Deal with Carpenter Ant Infestation?
Getting rid of the carpenter ants that have taken over your home can be challenging but not dangerous. Even though you can do it yourself, hiring a professional is still the best option.
Here are some fantastic methods you can try to get rid of these annoying pests in your home:
Locate the Nest of the Carpenter Ants
You’ll need to conduct some investigation to find the carpenter ant nest. Remember that they prefer dry wood for their nests. Carpenter ants within your home might be a sign that the timber supporting its structure is deteriorating, which is a serious issue in and of itself that requires attention.
Even if you manage to deal with the infestation, we recommend you check your house for rotting wood. It can be a concern and a health risk for you and your family if rotting or wet wood causes structural damage.
Treat the Nest with Pesticides
The best possible care is required during this process. The success rate will be higher if you let an expert do it. However, it won’t be difficult for you to give it a try. Be sure to adhere properly to the pesticides’ supporting instructions.
But remember that most over-the-counter bug sprays are ineffective, costing you time and money in the process.
Hire a Pest Professional
Let the experts at Pest Police know if you absolutely must have this ant infestation resolved as soon as possible. A fully equipped pest controller will be dispatched to your doorstep to assess your home and eradicate the colony.
How to Prevent Carpenter Ant Infestation?
We all know that attempting to avoid an infestation in the first place is the best approach to handle it, regardless of the type of pest involved. Carpenter ants, in particular, are notoriously obstinate, so this is especially true of them.
In light of this, here are some excellent practices you may do to prevent carpenter ants from invading your property.
- Maintaining your home in good shape is the best strategy to ward off carpenter ants. Check your plumbing system for leaks or other signs of excessive dampness. There should be a swift resolution to each of them.
- Carpenter ants prefer decaying wood, as we’ve already established, so in addition to getting rid of the extra moisture, it’s a good idea to get rid of anything that’s already been harmed by it. It refers to broken couches, chairs, and other furniture in the house.
- Carpenter ants will also penetrate your yard or lawn through unmaintained greenery. From there, they might get into your house with ease. Therefore, we advise you to ensure that all trees and shrubs around your property are routinely trimmed.
Final Thoughts
Various products and techniques are available to help you tackle carpenter ant infestation problems. The optimal option will vary depending on the season, the nest’s location, and numerous other elements.
Although DIY carpenter ant control is possible, there are often satellite colonies, making it very challenging to get rid of an infestation on your own. For this reason, we advise contacting a reputable pest control company.
The inspection technicians employed by the Pest Police are fully qualified, accredited, and licenced. We always adhere strictly to the applicable Australian Standards and provide obligation-free quotations to highlight further the value we offer for all our pest control services. We have years of experience successfully detecting the presence of carpenter ants, eliminating them, and preventing re-infestation in homes.
Call our ant exterminators in Melbourne at 1800 737 876 if you have questions about carpenter ants or the warning signs of an infestation. You can also fill out our enquiry form to get an obligation-free quotation.