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Top 5 Questions about Carpenter Ants

Serving Suffolk County | Nassau County | Long Island | Brooklyn

Carpenter ants can cause significant damage to your home just like termites. They hollow out wood to make their nests. These ants are large ranging in size from 1/4 inch for a worker ant to up to 3/4 inch for a queen. Carpenter ants work throughout the night looking for food and water. They create more than one home per colony and can travel over 100 yards from a nest in search of food.

carpenter ant burrowing into piece of wood

Top 5 Carpenter Ant Questions

1. How do I get rid of carpenter ants? To get rid of the ants, the parent and the satellite nests must be found and eliminated or the ants will reappear in a few days or weeks.  It is difficult or impossible to locate and destroy the carpenter’s ant nest. DIY solutions are not recommended.  The parent nest contains an egg-laying queen, brood, and 2000 or more worker ants. Satellite nests may have large numbers of worker ants but no queen, eggs, or young larvae. Ant colonies can have 10,000+ workers.

2. What kills carpenter ants? Like other social insects, carpenter ants have worker ants and a queen. Killing the queen ant will effectively kill the colony. Due to the multiple nests both inside and outside a home, different pest control treatments are often needed.

3. Where do you find carpenter ants? Carpenter ants normally nest in logs, stumps, and hollow or dying trees. They help with the decomposition of decaying wood. They often invade homes in search of food.  Carpenter ants nest in both moist and dry wood but prefer wood that is moist. They are often found in homes near sinks, bathtubs, poorly sealed windows/ door frames, roof leaks, and leaky chimneys.

4. What are the signs of carpenter ants? Just like termites, spotting large (1/2 inch), wingless, dark-colored ants inside a home is usually the first sign of an infestation. It can be hard to detect these insects in your home. Sometimes, just a small pile of sawdust will indicate that you have a problem. They love moist, rotting wood and soft materials like foamed insulation.

5. How can you prevent carpenter ants from invading your home? Remove damp or damaged wood from your yard including old tree stumps, logs and branches, and dying trees. Repair gutters and make sure that water is draining away.  Keep tree branches and other plants cut back from the house. Make sure that firewood and building materials are not stored next to your home.

Think you have carpenter ants in your home? Contact Suburban Exterminating today and receive a free quote!

Top 5 Questions about Carpenter Ants Serving Long Island and surrounding areas

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