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Carpenter Ants
| Carpenter Ants can cause
extensive and costly damage to a home. Fortunately they are not as
destructive a termites due to the fact that they excavate wood rather
than consuming it. They can bore into structural timbers, ceilings
and floor or sub-floor areas, or colonize undisturbed hollow spaces such
as wall voids and hollow doors where undetected they can cause
considerable damage. They also often invade pantries. If
disturbed they may inflict painful bites. . |
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Carpenter Ants are one of the
most common ant species they are. They are most commonly the larger
black ants, but do come in a variety of sizes and colors. Carpenter ants
hollow out dead, moist wood, firewood, and fences ,but do not ever eat
the wood. They nest in wood rather and also can be found indoors in wall
voids, eaves, crawl spaces, and attics. Sometimes their nest can grow to
thousands of ants. Found throughout the USA , they feed on insects
during the summer but often invade structures in spring and fall looking
for other food sources. These ants eat sweets and are known to forge at
nights. Another key identifier is that they have a circle of hairs at
the tip of their abdomen. Also evidence of frass (tiny bits of sawdust
material with parts of dead insects) is a good indication of a colony
close by. Keep in mind it is common that carpenter ant colonies do
produce swarmers (winged ants) and is another clue that the colony is
close by. |
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