Ants | Select another Frequently Asked Question

Question: What is the best way to get rid of carpenter ants in the home?

Answer: Carpenter ant nests are difficult to locate. If the carpenter ant nest is inside the home, an inspection may allow the technician to locate and eliminate the nest on the first day of the treatment. Unfortunately, many nests are also located outside the home so it is also important to include a perimeter treatment when necessary. I would pick the company which will try to locate the nest on the initial service and is also willing to provide exterior treatments if necessary. Exterior treatment is not always necessary but if you feel more confident about the service that company provides, it may be worth the extra money. Carpenter ants are difficult to control, so make sure the company you pick will respond to your future complaint calls in a time frame that is agreeable to you. Regardless of their different treatment techniques, all companies can have unfavorable outcomes initially and will most likely need quarterly exterior treatment to help prevent future infestations. They should be able to answer the question ,"What if that doesn't work?" to your satisfaction.

Question: I live in an urban environment and have recently noticed several "flying ants" in my home. The ants have been spotted in one room, particularly near the light. Any advice on what I should worry about or how to deal with it would be very helpful.

Answer: The only real concern is to be certain the flying insects are not termites. They are often confused because they are approximately the same size. If the insect has three body segments, it would be an ant. A flying ant is actually a winged reproductive. Male and female winged reproductive's swarm from the nest several times a year and attempt to start their own ant colonies. Most ants swarming inside your home will not find the environment suitable for beginning a new colony and will die. Therefore, there is no need to treat for them. However, if you do notice the wingless worker ants in the kitchen and bathrooms, you may want to have the home treated to eliminate this nuisance.

Question: Is there any effective extermination method available for carpenter ants that uses bait...foragers eat the bait, bring it back to the nest...then poison their friends? (Sounds ghastly, I know, but I'm hoping to avoid massive spraying.)

Answer: First, massive spraying is rarely ever necessary. There are new granular carpenter ant baits which are for colony elimination. Carpenter ant bait should only be put out when the carpenter ants are active and only where they are active. I believe most companies will make carpenter ant bait one of several tools to control infestations.

Question: I would like to know how to get rid of carpenter ants inside the home.

Answer: If you would like to try eliminating a carpenter ant problem yourself, the first step is to do a good inspection of your home and the surrounding trees for a carpenter ant nest or nests. Outdoors, carpenter ants can nest in the hollow of trees. Inside, they can nest almost anywhere in the homes structure. Check for water leaks or faulty gutters because ants tend to nest in areas where a constant source of water is available. Check for wood frass around window and door moldings. Carpenter ants will leave these wood shavings close to where they are nesting. If you are lucky enough to find the nest, you can use almost any over the counter pesticide to treat and destroy the nest. If you can not locate the nest, regular perimeter treatments to the homes foundation and nearby trees can be a very effective way to control carpenter ants inside the home. This treatment should be repeated as often as necessary.

Question: Five carpenter ants have been spotted in my home. (Is this cause for a state of an emergency or might this be foraging?) Regardless, I want the nest located and them rid to prevent any damage.

Answer: If you saw only five carpenter ants, there really is no cause for alarm but it does mean carpenter ants are nesting close by and may be a potential threat at some point in time. Most likely the ants are nesting outdoors and are foraging indoors as you mentioned. Carpenter ants do not eat wood as termites do. The damage they cause is a product of their nesting activities which tends to be in trees or wood members (such as the wood beams that make up a house.) Carpenter ants use their mandibles to cut and hollow out wood to create a nesting area for their young. In the majority of homes we treat, there is one main nest located outdoors which is rarely found and a smaller satellite nest/s indoors which is an extension of the original nest. As the ant colony grows it needs to locate additional food sources (mostly likely a sweet liquid substance secreted from aphids or wild berries.) If this new food source is found far from the original nest, the ants will export their young to a safe site closer to the food source and begin building a satellite nest. These are the nests we most often find in homes.

Question: Do ants and termites use the same tunnels? Our house has been treated for termites and had a spot spray. We do have wood damage and what looks like ant hills outside our yard. Can termites and ants live together?

Answer: Ants and termites are natural enemies and would not willing inhabit the same tunnels at the same time. It is the soldier termite that defends the nest from invading predators such as ants. Therefore, ants may inhabit termite tunnels and even termite damaged wood after they have gotten through the termite's defenses but odds are the two tunnel networks are separate. Mounds in the yard are most likely ant hills.

Question: Can one hear a termite or carpenter ant infestation?

Answer: I have never heard a termite infestation but I have heard carpenter ants moving behind walls and under insulation. There are also carpenter bees which make a noise as they drill through wood. There are also certain wood boring beetles that will consume wood in their larval stage and they can be heard many times. Call us for a free inspection to determine what is making the noise.

Question: The past week, carpenter ants have infested my home in the kitchen and bathroom. What can I do to eliminate them? We had our home treated for a termite infestation 1 1/2 years ago. Could there be correlation between the termites and the carpenter ants?

Answer: There is no correlation between your termite problem and the carpenter ant problem you face today. Termites eat the wood while carpenter ants only nest in the wood. They carve galleries in the wood to increase the size of their nest. You should inspect your home's gutters. Be sure they are working properly. Also inspect the caulking around the windows and doors for cracks. Leaks or excessive moisture will attract carpenter ants to nest close by. Check the trees or fence posts outside for cavities and possible carpenter ant activity. If you continue to have problems and you can not locate the source, call your local exterminator for a free inspection.

Question: I have argentine ants in my house. What kind of baits are the best?

Answer: In my opinion, the important thing to consider when purchasing ant baits is to be sure you are getting a slow acting stomach poison. These types of baits offer the best chance of allowing the ant enough time to return to the nest and share the bait with other colony members. A few of the active ingredients that work as a slow acting stomach poison are boric acid, hydromethylnon and sulfluramid. Research has found that an ant colony's preference in diet can change week to week. This means a bait that is working well today may not be doing well tomorrow. The attractants in different brands of baits will vary in the amounts of proteins and carbohydrates they contain. Several different baits should offer enough variety to cover possible diet changes. Many times these baits aren't offered over the counter and the homeowner will need to rely on a professional.