The last few months our office has received a lot of calls about Carpenter Ant swarmers. Many people confuse them with Termites, which are rarely found in North Eastern Illinois. Carpenter Ants and Termites share some similarities, but there are also a few differences. That is another post for another day. Today I will be talking about the life cycle of a Carpenter Ant colony.
Carpenter Ants are a very common in our area. They are found in dead wood, such as trees, fallen logs, stumps, or even in houses. Many people falsely believe that Carpenter Ants eat wood. This is not true. Carpenter Ants excavate or dig out galleries. These special chambers are used to store eggs, larvae, and pupae as they grow.
Carpenter ants are usually most active during the spring and summer months, but can be seen in the fall as well. They can vary in color but are generally black or dark bodied and range in size from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch. The queen ant is larger, up to 3/4 inch.
When the winged ant swarmers leave a colony in the Spring, males and females will mate. The males will then die and the females will lose their wings.
Each wingless female will try to become queen of a new colony. She will first seek out a good site, usually moist dead wood which has been weakened by fungus. Once she has found a good site, she will begin to lay eggs.
Carpenter Ants go through several stages. They will develop as eggs for about three weeks. Then they will spend approximately another three weeks as larvae. Carpenter Ant larvae are small, white, and legless, resembling maggots. They will spend a final three weeks as pupae. This is the resting stage where they will form a small tan capsule, before emerging as adult ants.
The ants which come out of the pupae will be female worker ants. Worker ants are unable to breed. These workers will eat fluid given to them from the queen. When they are strong enough, they will begin gathering food and enlarging the nest. The queen will also lay more eggs, and the workers will care for them. The queen’s only job now is to lay eggs.
All of the new eggs will become female workers. In a few years, there will be thousands of ants in the colony. Two levels of workers will form: major workers and minor workers. Major workers will guard the nest, battle intruders, explore, and find food. Minor workers will expand the nest, and care for the young.
When a worker finds food, she will leave a scent trail on her way back to the colony. When she arrives, she will let other workers know she found food.
Carpenter Ants will feed on just about anything from living and dead insects, honeydew, or anything people consume. They also enjoy nectar from flowers, fruit juice, other insects, and even dead Carpenter Ants from their own colony. These ants look for food mostly at night, but they rarely travel more than 100 yards away from the nest. Workers in the nest will regurgitate food for the queen and the larvae.
After a few years, when the colony has become successful, the nest has been expanded, and thousands of ants are present, the queen will produce eggs which will become swarmers. These males and females will mate and continue the cycle.
Signs of Carpenter Ants in Your Home
There are a number of signs, which may indicate a Carpenter ant problem in your home.
- Winged Carpenter ants (swarmers) – emerging from around baseboards, window casings or vents. They usually emerge in spring or summer and if you see any more than 20, it may indicate the presence of a large colony.
- Noise – if you hear a crunching sound it could be the sound of rustling from their nests in wood in your home. Nests are usually built in wood structures and can also be found in wall or ceiling voids.
- Sawdust – as nests become established in wood, carpenter ants often leave behind a trail of sawdust, which usually leads back to the nest.
- Damaged wood – carpenter ants tunnel through wood to create their nests, creating galleries’ in wood, which have a clean, smooth and sandpapered appearance.
How to Keep Carpenter Ants Away
Are you worried about Carpenter ants invading your home Carpenter ants often enter your home in an attempt to find food, and they are particularly attracted to sweet substances. There are a number of steps that you can take to prevent them entering your home, by eliminating the conditions that are attractive and supportive to these ants.
Tips To Prevent Carpenter Ants:
- Always cover food and store food in containers.
- Clean up food and liquid spills immediately.
- Seal any cracks and crevices in your home which may serve as entry ways.
- Eliminate moisture problems in and around your home – carpenter ants prefer moist places to dry environments.
- Replace any decayed wood – nests are often found in rotten wood.
- Store fire wood away from your home and keep it dry and elevated to allow air circulation – firewood is one of the easiest ways to carry these ants into your home, so make sure you check the wood for signs of infestation.
- Remove nearby rotting or dead trees in your backyard – these often provide ideal conditions for a carpenter ant nest and a good base from which they can explore the area closer or even inside your home. Carpenter ants are known to travel great distances for food.
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants in Your Home
The most effective way to get rid of Carpenter ants is to find the nest and destroy it.
Common places to find Carpenter ant nests include hollow doors, window sills, roof areas and wall voids. However, it can sometimes be difficult to find the nest for a number of reasons:
- Carpenter ants are nocturnal; you will often have to wait for night time to find a trail, which could lead to the nest. To make this more difficult, Carpenter ants do not tend to travel in large numbers, so a trail may be even harder to spot.
- Carpenter ants don’t usually just set up one nest, but a whole series of “satellite” nests too, which ensures the colony’s survival even if one nest may be destroyed.
- Carpenter ants can do considerable damage to timber in your home – it may be necessary to replace timbers if they have been very badly damaged. You should ensure that all the ants have been destroyed, before you begin to replace damaged wood in your home.
For these reasons, we recommend that you contact a professional pest management company to get rid of the Carpenter ants for you, to be certain of a thorough and complete job.
The last few months our office has received a lot of calls about Carpenter Ant swarmers. Many people confuse them with Termites, which are rarely found in North Eastern Illinois. Carpenter Ants and Termites share some similarities, but there are also a few differences. That is another post for another day. Today I will be talking about the life cycle of a Carpenter Ant colony.
Carpenter Ants are a very common in our area. They are found in dead wood, such as trees, fallen logs, stumps, or even in houses. Many people falsely believe that Carpenter Ants eat wood. This is not true. Carpenter Ants excavate or dig out galleries. These special chambers are used to store eggs, larvae, and pupae as they grow.
Carpenter ants are usually most active during the spring and summer months, but can be seen in the fall as well. They can vary in color but are generally black or dark bodied and range in size from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch. The queen ant is larger, up to 3/4 inch.
When the winged ant swarmers leave a colony in the Spring, males and females will mate. The males will then die and the females will lose their wings.
Each wingless female will try to become queen of a new colony. She will first seek out a good site, usually moist dead wood which has been weakened by fungus. Once she has found a good site, she will begin to lay eggs.
Carpenter Ants go through several stages. They will develop as eggs for about three weeks. Then they will spend approximately another three weeks as larvae. Carpenter Ant larvae are small, white, and legless, resembling maggots. They will spend a final three weeks as pupae. This is the resting stage where they will form a small tan capsule, before emerging as adult ants.
The ants which come out of the pupae will be female worker ants. Worker ants are unable to breed. These workers will eat fluid given to them from the queen. When they are strong enough, they will begin gathering food and enlarging the nest. The queen will also lay more eggs, and the workers will care for them. The queen’s only job now is to lay eggs.
All of the new eggs will become female workers. In a few years, there will be thousands of ants in the colony. Two levels of workers will form: major workers and minor workers. Major workers will guard the nest, battle intruders, explore, and find food. Minor workers will expand the nest, and care for the young.
When a worker finds food, she will leave a scent trail on her way back to the colony. When she arrives, she will let other workers know she found food.
Carpenter Ants will feed on just about anything from living and dead insects, honeydew, or anything people consume. They also enjoy nectar from flowers, fruit juice, other insects, and even dead Carpenter Ants from their own colony. These ants look for food mostly at night, but they rarely travel more than 100 yards away from the nest. Workers in the nest will regurgitate food for the queen and the larvae.
After a few years, when the colony has become successful, the nest has been expanded, and thousands of ants are present, the queen will produce eggs which will become swarmers. These males and females will mate and continue the cycle.
Signs of Carpenter Ants in Your Home
There are a number of signs, which may indicate a Carpenter ant problem in your home.
- Winged Carpenter ants (swarmers) – emerging from around baseboards, window casings or vents. They usually emerge in spring or summer and if you see any more than 20, it may indicate the presence of a large colony.
- Noise – if you hear a crunching sound it could be the sound of rustling from their nests in wood in your home. Nests are usually built in wood structures and can also be found in wall or ceiling voids.
- Sawdust – as nests become established in wood, carpenter ants often leave behind a trail of sawdust, which usually leads back to the nest.
- Damaged wood – carpenter ants tunnel through wood to create their nests, creating galleries’ in wood, which have a clean, smooth and sandpapered appearance.
How to Keep Carpenter Ants Away
Are you worried about Carpenter ants invading your home Carpenter ants often enter your home in an attempt to find food, and they are particularly attracted to sweet substances. There are a number of steps that you can take to prevent them entering your home, by eliminating the conditions that are attractive and supportive to these ants.
Tips To Prevent Carpenter Ants:
- Always cover food and store food in containers.
- Clean up food and liquid spills immediately.
- Seal any cracks and crevices in your home which may serve as entry ways.
- Eliminate moisture problems in and around your home – carpenter ants prefer moist places to dry environments.
- Replace any decayed wood – nests are often found in rotten wood.
- Store fire wood away from your home and keep it dry and elevated to allow air circulation – firewood is one of the easiest ways to carry these ants into your home, so make sure you check the wood for signs of infestation.
- Remove nearby rotting or dead trees in your backyard – these often provide ideal conditions for a carpenter ant nest and a good base from which they can explore the area closer or even inside your home. Carpenter ants are known to travel great distances for food.
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants in Your Home
The most effective way to get rid of Carpenter ants is to find the nest and destroy it.
Common places to find Carpenter ant nests include hollow doors, window sills, roof areas and wall voids. However, it can sometimes be difficult to find the nest for a number of reasons:
- Carpenter ants are nocturnal; you will often have to wait for night time to find a trail, which could lead to the nest. To make this more difficult, Carpenter ants do not tend to travel in large numbers, so a trail may be even harder to spot.
- Carpenter ants don’t usually just set up one nest, but a whole series of “satellite” nests too, which ensures the colony’s survival even if one nest may be destroyed.
- Carpenter ants can do considerable damage to timber in your home – it may be necessary to replace timbers if they have been very badly damaged. You should ensure that all the ants have been destroyed, before you begin to replace damaged wood in your home.
For these reasons, we recommend that you contact a professional pest management company to get rid of the Carpenter ants for you, to be certain of a thorough and complete job.