How To Kill Carpenter Ants

Types of Carpenter Ants

View of the adult stages of the carpenter ant:

• Top Right- Queen
• Top Left - Male
• Bottom Right - Minor worker
• Bottom middle - Intermediate worker
• Bottom Left - Major worker

Carpenter ants in North America usually involve 3 main species. The Florida Carpenter Ant usually referred to as the red and black carpenter ant, the Camponotus Modoc (western US) and Camponotus Pennsylvanicus (eastern US) usually referred to as the big black carpenter ants will be focused on in this discussion. Since the Florida Carpenter Ant, Camponotus Modoc and Pennsylvanicus have similar nesting patterns and feeding patterns, we will focus on control of carpenter ants in general, although all carpenter ant species may have different diets and habits depending on the geographical region in which they are located, time of year, and certain other factors.

Big Black Carpenter ant colonies are usually of moderate size, some containing over 3,000 workers (up to 10-15,000 including satellite nests) when maturity is reached in about 3 to 6 years. The typical western carpenter ant (C, Modoc) mature colony contains about 10,000-20,000 workers, with large colonies having up to100,000 workers. Developmental time (egg to adult) for workers takes at about 60 days. Workers have different sizes (polymorphism), with majors, minors and intermediates present.

Signs of Carpenter Ants

In order to effectively eliminate carpenter ants, you have to be absolutely sure that it is carpenter ants to begin with. Look for the following signs:
* Presence of ants (workers or winged reproductives) - An occasional ant may be a scout looking for food and may not indicate the presence of a nest, but continuous or numerous ants are a sign of nesting.

* Frass - Accumulating in piles or caught in spider webbing; has a finely-shredded appearance. Do not confuse with small sawdust from construction, doors or cabinets rubbing on one another, or drywood termite fecal pellets.

* Trails - Carpenter ants will often form tight closely associated trails that can be traced to the area of the nest. Many times trails can be tracing along carpet edges, door frames, outside eaves, fence tops, telephone and power lines, etc..

* Sounds - Rustling or tapping noises produced when disturbed ants rasp the substrate with their mandibles or gasters or when excavating wood. If you put your ear up to a hollow door and then scratch your fingers on the other side, the scratching sound will give you a good idea of what carpenter ants sound like.

Finding Carpenter Ant Colonies

Carpenter ant control begins with a search for the colony or nest. Before any efforts are made to eradicate carpenter ants, a program or strategy needs to be implemented. Do not simply spray "something" on the carpenter ants without considering the consequences. Simply spraying an "over the counter poison" on the ants without any other consideration will greatly complicate your control and sometimes make the infestation much worse.

#1 Reason you do not want to spray:
Sprays will only kill the exposed worker ants. Spraying will have no effect on the queens. Therefore if large numbers of worker ants begin to die - guess what happens ? The queens will lay more eggs, and since the queens will not be killed by sprays, the number of eggs will grow and multiply and eventually outnumber by many times the numbers of the original workers. That means your carpenter ant colony is now several times larger - all because the ants have a "natural tendency to survive".

#2 Reason you do not want to spray:
Most chemical pesticide sprays tend to be very repellent to the ants. Chemical or pesticide repellency simply means that the ants can sense the presence of pesticides and they will avoid them. That's right - the worker ants will simply avoid the chemical that you sprayed and travel or trail around it. If the chemical is sprayed too close to the nest, the queens will engage the workers to pick up the eggs and move the nest farther away from the pesticide ! And usually, as a result of moving, the queens will also engage the workers to divide or "split" into several new nests. This splitting of dividing of the carpenter ant nest is also called "satelliting" After the new nests are setup and established, the new queens begin to lay more eggs and the entire carpenter ant system is divided and now instead of a single nest there are several nests to deal with, making control much more difficult.

Some pest control technicians as a result of using repellent sprays or dusts actually create more problems than they solve ! Yes, they use repellent sprays thinking they are "doing a good job", but create more problems than they solve - as a result of not following rule #2.

Their are no non-repellent pesticide sprays labeled for ant use. The only product that comes close to being non-repellent is PHANTOM a liquid spray product that also has an indoor ant label. Termidor also has an ant label for outdoor barrier use.

The only non-repellent dusts for carpenter ant control are Timbor and Nibor. The ants will contact these dusts by crawling or trailing through them not realizing the presence of the dust. The ants will die within 7-14 days after being exposed these products. Nibor can be mixed with water and sprayed like a liquid pesticides. When the water evaporates it leaves a thin film of Nibor on surfaces sprayed.

The bottom line is, you have to find or make an attempt to find the carpenter ant nest and not use repellent sprays or dusts.

How To Kill Carpenter Ants:

Once the carpenter ant colonies have been located, they need to be treated directly with insecticides. But not repellent pesticides. Only use non-repellent pesticides to kill carpenter ants. Non repellent means that the Ants will not detect its presence and will not avoid it. In the case of baits, they will be attracted to it, and hopefully feed on it. In the case of dusts or sprays, they will not detect its presence and not be repelled.

Outside

Carpenter ants outdoors are usually always best controlled with baits. Advance Carpenter Ant Bait or Gourmet Liquid Ant Bait are the only baits currently on the market for all species of carpenter ants. These baits can be used in small quantities and applied close to the source of the nest or where the worker ants can pick them up. With Advance Carpenter Ant Bait it is best to start with small quantities (tablespoon size) and check periodically to see if the ants are picking it up. If so, then more bait can be applied. Apply as much bait as the ants will consume. Remember, you may be dealing with a carpenter ant nest that contains tens of thousands of ants. If so, you may need to apply a lot of bait. How much depends on how large the colony is.

Inside

Ant colonies located inside wall voids, hollow doors, window sills, etc, should be treated using dust products such as Timbor or Nibor-D. These products are non-repellent to the ants and are very effective. Using a small hand duster such as the 1964 Duster, apply Timbor or Nibor-D liberally into wall voids, hollow doors, attics, eaves, sub areas, etc.. The use of a small hand drill using a 3/16" bit may be necessary to apply the products into hidden or enclosed areas. Another good method is to remove all electrical and plumbing covers and dust into the walls and plumbing areas. Carpenter ants will travel from room to room via electrical lines and plumbing lines. Dusting these areas cuts off these routes of travel killing worker ants and also reducing "satelliting".

Indoor Baiting is very effective for most ant species and also the safest. Advance Carpenter Ant Bait or Gourmet Liquid Ant Bait are the safest to apply and are very effective as long as they are applied into wall voids through switch plates or in hidden areas such as attics, voids, under carpeting, corners of cabinets etc. It is best to place Gourmet Liquid Ant Bait into a specially made chamber such as the KM Ant Pro Ant Feeder Station. KM Ant Pro Ant Feeder Station should be placed in attics, crawl spaces, under cabinets on countertops, window sills or where carpenter ant activity is found.

Continual Carpenter Ant Protection

Perimeter treatments of building foundations, lawns or trees with a liquid insecticide will help prevent outdoor foraging ants from entering. Outdoor sprays such as Termidor are very effective at killing and repelling carpenter ants. Outdoor Liquid Ant Feeders such as the KM Ant Pro Ant Feeder Station also provide excellent long term protection and only have to be inspected every 90 days.

Don't Buy Retail Ant Baits !

Most over the counter baits sold at hardware stores and retailers do not contain the same attractants or active ingredients as professional use baits. Although the packaging and advertising may appear convincing, millions of dollars are wasted by consumers annually on over the counter ant bait products that simply do not work. For this reason, ePestSupply.com is committed to offering only the finest Professional Quality ant bait products and at the lowest possible price. You can depend on ePestSupply.com and our commitment.

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PCT's Guide To Structure Infesting Ants