Carpenter ants can do damage to home structures for years without being detected. When left untreated, this damage can become even more expensive to deal with. Because these ants can cost you thousands of dollars in repairs, you will want to recognise the signs of an infestation. These include the following:
You See One Black Ant
Fourmis charpentières don’t raid your pantry and cabinets for food. Because they have a wide range of foods they can feed on they may easily acquire outside your house, they may only send a scout or two. If you see even one black ant walking around your home, you may have to deal with an infestation.
It is important to identify carpenter ants. These are the biggest ants that get into homes. They are black and have one node between the thorax and abdomen. They can be mistaken for pavement ants, which are also back. However, pavement ants are smaller than carpenter ants.
You Find Winged Ants
If winged ants are crawling outside your windows, you must take notice. You may have a mature infestation somewhere on your property or nearby. When these ants reached their maximum population, they will start producing male and female reproductives or swarmers. These swarmers are meant to establish a new nest. If you see these swarmers, have an expert track your ant problem and find the nest that produced those swarmers.
You Notice Wood Damage
Carpenter ants will consume galleries inside wood over time. Such galleries can weaken support structures. Such weakening will lead to sinking floors, difficult-to-open doors and windows, sagging ceilings, and bulging walls. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not only work inside the wood they are damaging.
You Find Sawdust
Carpenter ants do not eat wood. You will know you have a serious carpenter ant infestation in your home when you see the sawdust they kick out of their tunnels. You can usually find the sawdust in crawl spaces, under external structures, and in basement areas.
You See Lots of Black Ants
You will know if you carpenter ants have invaded your property if you see a lot of them finding a food source. You may see them feasting on a bowl of pet food left on the floor or a piece of bread left on the kitchen counter. There are other ways food sources can become available and you should not miss the scout ants finding them. However, before you try to deal with the group yourself, consider getting a professional to examine the situation and determine where these ants are living.