Are carpenter ants poisonous?

Carpenter ants are slightly larger than the traditional pavement or sugar ants you find around your home. Does their massive presence mean they can cause more peril to your family, and are these creatures poisonous to you? Rest assured, we can put your mind at ease, as carpenter ants are common in New Jersey year-round and are not toxic. That doesn’t mean that their bite can’t pack a powerful punch.

While you can feel relief that these larger ants won’t be dangerous to you or your pets, the foundation of your home and other structures are in danger. See, carpenter ants love wood, so they have the potential to be as destructive as the termite. If you don’t find and resolve an infestation of these ants quickly, it can cost you thousands in structural repairs.

Understanding the Carpenter Ant

It would help if you distinguished the carpenter ant from other critters, as there are a few looks similar. The carpenter ant can thrive both indoors and out. They like to build their colonies inside wooden structures, so your porch or foundational supports are perfect.

Unlike termites, they don’t feed on wood. They only chew on it to burrow and create hollow areas where they can nest. These ants aren’t dangerous to humans or your pets, but they’re drawn to places where damage has already occurred.

If you have an area where water damage occurred in your home, they find it easier to borrow into this wood. The same can be said for a tree in your backyard that’s started to rot from damage. They prey on weakened structures as it’s easier to chew their way through them.

The carpenter ant prefers to stay outside and leave you alone, but they will come into your home when they need nourishment. Since they don’t feed on this wood, they still need to find a source of nutrition for their colony. Sadly, if they find that your home provides what they need to feed their brood, they will start the nesting process. A few ants can quickly turn into an infestation due to the rate at which they breed.

Identify Carpenter Ants

It’s not challenging to tell a carpenter ant from other varieties based on size. There is some variation in their size, as the queens and winged kinds are massive. They can get up to three-fourths of an inch. The worker ants are the smallest at one-fourth of an inch.

You’ll notice that the coloring of these ants is different than sugar ants, as they’re not always a solid black color. Confusingly, they can be a shiny black color too, but usually, you will find them in hues of red, orange, or a combination of red/black. If you examine them closely, you will see that their body structure differs quite a bit from other ants.

Pay attention to the thorax and abdomen areas, as there’s one node instead of two. Another difference that’s easy to see is that the abdomen has tiny hairs on the tip of it, which the other ants won’t have on them. Their thorax area is also distinct, as it’s round and uneven in presentation.

The winged varieties are often confused with termites. These are the ones that will destroy the wooden structures of your home. To confuse you, termites and carpenter ants won’t live together in your home.

So if there is decay and wood that can be eaten or tunneled through, they won’t coexist. The good news is that you won’t fight both simultaneously. These two pests are natural enemies, so they won’t go on each other’s territory.

Is It a Carpenter Ant or a Termite?

Ironically, the carpenter ant looks a great deal like the winged termite, so we often get calls from customers who believe they have a termite infestation. They have a carpenter ant problem, though it’s not much relief. Both pests will cause damage that can add up to a serious amount of change.

The carpenter ant does have some distinguishing features that make them easy to differentiate from the termite. The ant’s body structure is more constricted and only has one section between its abdomen and the thorax. On the other hand, termites have a core connected to the thorax.

The wings of the two insects are another area of difference. The ants have two sets of wings, one in the back and the other in the front. The ones in the front are a bit longer than the ones in the back. On the termite, their wings in front and back are equal in size.

Finally, there’s one other way to tell a termite from a carpenter ant, and it’s by looking at their antennae. The termite’s antennae are entirely straight with segments. However, the carpenter ant has a noticeable bend in its antennae.

Why Do Carpenter Ants Love Wood?

Carpenter ants have a penchant for wood, so they seek places like trees, logs in your home, and landscaping timbers. Wood provides an excellent shelter for them to lay eggs to hatch into larvae. Before constructing their colony, they must test the moisture in the wood to see if it’s suitable.

The eggs won’t develop into pupae and larvae if there’s insufficient moisture, so this is important. Since wood with plenty of moisture is required, you won’t find them gnawing on a dry section as it’s not suitable. Here are some familiar places we look to identify an infestation:

• Porch ceilings along the roofline
• Damaged flashing
• Near plumbing in kitchen and bathroom
• Crawl spaces
• Under porches
• Attics
• Near bathtubs and showers
• Wooden doors
• Near window trim by the curtain rod
• Door framing
• Backside of moldy cabinets
• Behind dishwashers

Like most destructive critters, the carpenter ants like to do their work at night. They’re pretty creative in maneuvering their way into your home. They will use tree branches or other objects that can give them a clear path right to your front door.

What Attracts These Ants to Your Home?

We’ve already established that the carpenter ant doesn’t eat the wood they chew, but what do they eat? Fascinatingly enough, this ant is omnivorous. They can eat plant and animal-based products, which is a double threat to your home.

They will dine on the nectar of plants and small insects alike. They prefer sweet treats, eggs, grease from your bacon, cake, and even meats. Therefore, it’s so essential for you to clean up after your meals.

That piece of banana your toddler dropped under the table might go unnoticed, but a carpenter ant can smell it up to 300 feet from your home. It’s scary to consider that their sense of smell is so keen, especially since it’s so easy to miss food crumbs.

Source: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/FS1101/

You must find the nest if you want to get rid of these pesky critters. Now, you don’t have to search through your walls because the worker ants will take the food back to the colony for you. Baits work the best for this job. Watching the workers grab the bait and take it back to their nests is fascinating. You can quickly locate it by observing.

Bait

Bait can be made of a combination of things. The most popular is some sugary substance and borax. The sweets will entice them, and the chemical will kill them. Get a small dish and mix an equal part of borax or boric acid and sugar.

Then add a little bit of water to it to make a paste. Leave this dish, and you will notice ants crawling in it in a few hours. It takes them a bit to locate the scent, but once one of them does, they will signal all their fellow workers to come and dine.

Destroy the Pheromone Trails

You may have heard something about pheromones in the news lately in regard to humans and the dating scene. You may be shocked to learn that pheromones work both in the human and pest world. Pheromones are chemicals that are excreted from a body that triggers a response by others, but they can also be used to make a trail that’s easy to find.

Think of them as hormones left outside the body from the person or creature passing by.

As the ant travels, they leave this hormonal scent for others to follow. The reason they do this is to create a map of your home. Remember, these creatures are pretty small, so they need to ensure they can find their way around with ease.

If you want to confuse them and destroy their map, you need to eliminate these pheromone trails. Essential oils are a great way to eliminate these scent trails, as you can wipe them away. Any areas where you’ve seen ants crawling should be cleaned to eliminate these external hormones. An equal parts vinegar and water mix will also work fine to spray in these areas.

Eliminate the Nest

Once you’ve located the nest, you must get into the wood to eradicate the insects. It’s advisable to drill holes every six inches that go about one-eighth of an inch deep. You must put boric acid into these holes to kill the ants inside. You must know this is the location of the ants before you start drilling holes in structural beams and other essential areas in your home.

Additionally, getting all the ants in the colony may take a few treatments. This is why it’s best to call in a professional and someone who is well versed in dealing with these challenging insects.

Calling Professional Help

Getting rid of carpenter ants is an overwhelming job, which is why so many people call in the professionals at the first sign of trouble. Just because you eliminate the nest doesn’t mean you’ve got all the ants; the ones left behind can build a new nest.

It’s easy to see how they can quickly become a significant headache. When you consider drilling holes in the wood, mixing boric acid pastes, and destroying pheromone trails, it’s overwhelming. If you’ve tried and failed, or you just don’t have it in you to try at all, give us a call!

We can help you get rid of the carpenter ants and save you a ton of money in damages. The longer you let them actively chew, the more it’s going to cost you should they damage any essential structures of your home. Time is certainly a factor when dealing with these critters, so you want to get a professional in your abode as soon as possible.

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