- Usually Black or Black with Red Middle Segment
- Range in size from ¼ inch to 5/8 inch
- Excavate Wood to create a space to live (do not eat wood)
- Can nest anywhere in a home but usually behind insulation or in wall voids, attics or crawl spaces
- Often associated with moisture
- Typically there is one or more satellite colonies within a home associated with one or more parent colonies located outside the home.
- Most active at night
It
is common for homeowners to assume that those “Black Ants” that show up
every spring are some harmless species of ant other than Carpenter
Ants. They mistakenly believe (or hope) that Carpenter Ants are only the
“Really BIG Ones” referring to the 5/8 inch winged queens or
major workers. But those “Black Ants” they are seeing are almost always
Carpenter Ants.
Carpenter Ants create two different types of “Nests”. They are Parent colonies and Satellite colonies. The Parent Colony is the reproductive center where an egg laying queen and thousands (upwards of 14,000) of worker ants are busy rearing young, foraging for food and excavating wood to create additional space for the growing colony.
Parent colonies are generally located in or adjacent to water damaged or decaying wood such as the heartwood of damaged trees, landscape timbers, old wood piles or any part of a home that is water damaged.
A
Satellite Colony is a group of ants (potentially a large number) that
have departed from the parent colony (usually taking pupa with them)
and established a new location. The satellite colony will still be sharing
resources with its parent colony. But it too will likely be excavating
wood to accommodate their growing numbers.
Satellite Colonies are very adaptable and do not seem to necessarily need
moisture damaged wood. We often find them in unusual places such as hollow
core doors, curtain rods, night stand drawers, cardboard boxes, even voids
within appliances. Any ready-made void seems suitable as a starting point
and they will readily pick up and move at will. The satellite colony seems
to function as a remote base of operations with supply lines back to the
parent colony.
Satellite nest in tissue box
Right
now the research indicates that there is only one way. Each
year the parent colony produces hundreds of Winged Reproductives or alates both
male and female. The males’ only function is to fertilize
the females. And the females’ function is to get away from
the parent colony, find a suitable nesting site, lay eggs and
produce a new colony. This ritual can be observed on many
warm days between May and August when carpenter ant colonies
are swarming all over the Northeast. What is usually
observed are very large, winged females flying and landing
like B-52 bombers on the sides of houses. This method of dispersion
is very effective for carpenter ants and a primary reason for
their success.
So what are the influences affecting how much damage can be done to a home?
The first thing to consider is the sheer volume of ants. A mature parent colony will establish multiple satellite colonies (upwards of eight). The second thing to consider is that our homes in the Northeast are surrounded by parent colonies. Remember that every stump, log, old wood-pile or damaged tree where the ants can get to the heartwood eventually becomes the ideal environment for a parent colony. This begs several questions: Are all the trees on the perimeter of your house in perfect condition? Did the root balls of many standing trees get damaged when the lot was cleared? Did some branches get knocked off? Have there been lightening strikes? As you can see, the immediate perimeter of our yard provides as much or more opportunity for Carpenter Ants than the forest beyond.
Does this mean that a lot of ant colonies equal a lot of damage?
It means you’ll likely see a lot of ants to be sure. It also means you will always run the risk of damage. But a major influence on damage is moisture. If the house has moisture issues such as a leaky roof, skylights, windows, doors or sliders; if it has a deck that isn’t flashed properly, if there are tub or shower surrounds that leak, or a sink or dishwasher that leaks; these sorts of persistent moisture problems create a context in which Carpenter Ants thrive and create damage. Parent colonies for example tend to start in damp, decaying wood and extend into sound wood. Another factor is whether there is pest control happening or not. Homes with water damage and ineffective or no pest control can sustain a lot of ant damage over a couple seasons. Correcting moisture problems will enhance the effectiveness of pest control.
Sometimes the construction materials themselves create fantastic opportunities for ants. Milled Log Homes are famous for persistent ant activity due to the slotted timber design. A newer form of construction using Structural Insulated Panels or SIPs is even more attractive to these opportunistic creatures. SIPs are large panels comprised of a sandwich of rigid foam and oriented-strand-board.
These
panels make an energy efficient envelope and have become the
dominant design choice when timber frames are used. Unfortunately,
Carpenter ants love the thick foam interiors and slotted construction
by which they fit together. We have created a specific service
procedure (very successfully I might add) just to deal with
this situation.