Have you seen what a carpenter ant looks like? They are among the largest of ant species in the world. It has been found out that they can grow from 3.4 to 13 mm long. In terms of color, they are usually black but there are reddish or yellowish carpenter ants, too. When it comes to their most distinct physical attribute, it would be their large mandibles. When you see one, you’d know right away that it is indeed a carpenter ant. And if you have this kind of pest in your home, business establishment, or office, you need to reach out to a reputable ant control services in Kitchener.
Carpenter ants are most active at night, and they are most commonly observed during the warm summer nights. They are named as carpenter ants due to the fact that they are capable of hollowing a wood which they will transform into their unique nesting site. Their Diet, Behavior, and Habits Carpenter ants are usually found either in decaying or hollow wood. In order for them to build their nest, they make use of the wood grain to carve into one and they build passageways through it to allow ease of their movement from one point to another in their colony. This kind of activity often lead to the creation of wood shavings which is often mixed with dead carpenter ants, and as such, they are being used as a telltale when experienced homeowners or professional pest control teams are looking for signs of carpenter ants in a house or a business establishment. While carpenter ants have this unique ability to carve wood and transform it and customize it to become their nesting site, unlike termites they don’t eat wood. They discard the wood debris outside their nests and have them in small piles But they almost eat everything that we humans are eating, with sweet and sugary food items being their most favorite. In addition to this, they’ve also been known to eat a wide variety of insects, too. Telltale Signs of Carpenter Ant Infestation The visual confirmation of worker ants and the swarmers (the winged ants that are about to start another ant colony) are perhaps the easiest and the most convenient way homeowners can have to determine carpenter ant presence in their home or even in their business establishments. The purpose of the worker ants is to keep seeking places or areas where their food sources could be found, and collect the same back to their colony. The presence of wood debris is another indication, a sure sign that carpenter ants may be present in your property. They produce debris when they are tunneling a piece of wood to make and transform it to become their nest. Often these rough shavings of wood are mixed with a couple of dead carpenter ants which is also a good indication that indeed there is an ongoing ant activity in that piece of wood. On very rare occasions, you may also hear a rustling sound from within the wood itself signaling to us that an ant wood activity is currently ongoing from within. One of the distinct characteristics of carpenter ants is that they have this unique habit of cleaning their nesting sites and keeping it that way. In fact, they are among the most unique insects in the world in such a way that they always see to it that their galleries are satin smooth like that of a sandpapered wood. Unlike how termite galleries are, their nesting sites are typically lined with mud or moist soil. It is not unusual for a typical carpenter ant colony to have ants of different sizes. Their respective shapes and sizes being have something to do with the caste they belong to which also determines their delegated duties and responsibilities to the colony. Aside from this, the color of a carpenter ant is directly depending upon their species. We may come across carpenter ants that are black to brown, while others would be in light brown to yellowish tan color. There are also carpenter ants that are purely red, orange or yellow, with black carpenter ants being the most common of them all. Careful observation of their physical attributes is one reliable way with which they can be easily identified. You can either find carpenter ants in the wild or in the natural environment. They usually nest in both dead and living trees. They also harbor in dead tree stumps and even in the rotting logs. They may have special preferences to dead or decaying wood, but that does not eliminate the possibility that they can also nest in human homes where wooden components are in abundance, too. The most preferred nesting site of carpenter ants are the wooden components of a structure, like a house, which has been thoroughly exposed to moisture and humidity. Types of Carpenter Ant Colony There are basically 2 types of carpenter ant colony, one is called parent colony and the other is referred to as the satellite colonies. A parent colony consists of its queen, her workers, and brood, whereas the satellite colony will have the workers, older larvae and pupae. Satellite colonies are created by worker ants when there is insufficient space for everyone in the colony. Another circumstance that triggers their creation is when there is just an adequate supply of food and water. This paves way for the possibility that there could be several satellite colonies related to a single parent colony. Effective Control and Treatment of Carpenter Ants When it comes to the effective control and management of carpenter ants, it is crucial that you locate first where their nest really is situated. The moment that you found the exact location of their nest, you can easily destroy it or eliminate the colony by taking advantage of a chemical treatment. Additionally, there should exist moisture conditions that makes the spot very much conducive for carpenter ants to survive. And you must eradicate that moisture source, too. You must address carpenter ants the moment that you found them nesting near or in your property, so as to prevent them from wreaking havoc and damage to the structural integrity of your house which certainly has its wooden components, too. If you detected their presence yet you let them remain there untreated and undisturbed for an extended period of time, it is very likely that they will wreak damage to your property of unimaginable proportions. Your best course of action in handling this type of insect infestation is to reach out to your reputable pest management team that offers high impacting carpenter ant control services in Kitchener. Such professionals possess the technical expertise, experience, and exposure when it comes handling such kind of infestations either at home or in a commercial establishment.
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