Carpenter Ants Come Marching In This Spring

The carpenter ants come marching in this spring

Carpenter ants get away with a lot, even for a pest. Whereas the termite inspires fear and indignation, most of the public doesn’t even consider the insidious carpenter ant. If someone had a termite infestation, they’d no doubt want it handled right away. Yet, despite the fact that carpenter ants destroy wood too, many infestations go unrecognized, much less treated!

We will not have it. We’ve warned you about the carpenter ant before, but now that spring is springing (kinda), the threat is real. This spring, thousands of carpenter ants are marching on your castle, and it’s up to you to stop them. That’s why we’ve put together this anti-invasion battle plan. Here’s everything you need to know to rout the rascally ruffians ready to rampage through your residency this spring.

What are they?

what are carpenter ants?Carpenter ants look like their sugar or pavement ant cousins, except bigger and darker. They’re typically brown or black and about ½ an inch long, though they could be red-and-black and even larger. Like most ants, carpenter ants are eusocial and live in a colony where members have specialized roles and characteristics. Unlike most ants, carpenter ants build their colonies by burrowing into moist wooden structures. Carpenter ant colonies could eventually inflict significant enough damage to compromise the structural integrity of the wood they inhabit.

There are three castes of carpenter ant: workers, drones, and queens. Worker carpenter ants build and expand the colony by cutting into and excavating wood to make “galleries” through it. Drones and queens are larger than workers, and have functional wings during mating season. Queens lay eggs to populate their colonies, and swarmers leave the colony to form new satellite colonies. Drones and queens only swarm in mating season, which typically occurs in early spring.

Why are they here?

why are carpenter ants here?Carpenter ants re-emerge from winter dormancy to replenish their energy and mate. Drones and queens emerge first in late winter or early spring. The more numerous drones swarm in large groups while seeking queens during mating season. You may notice these swarms around your home as early as mid-March. After mating, carpenter ant queens look for likely places to establish new nests. If they find a good place inside your home, they’ll lay 15-20 fertilized eggs there. These eggs will hatch into workers, which will begin to build a new colony.

Finding carpenter ants indoors doesn’t automatically mean you have an infestation. Sometimes queens or swarmers make their way indoors automatically, without intending to establish a nest there. Pay attention to how early you find carpenter ants indoors, as well as what caste those ants belong to. If you find numerous swarmers that seem to be trapped inside your home, it’s probably because they emerged from an indoor nest.

What do they want?

carpenter ants bore through woodUnlike many varieties of ant, carpenter ants are not primarily motivated to infest homes by the food inside. Carpenter ants feed on protein and sugar, primarily by foraging for aphids, live and dead insects, and honeydew. Contrary to popular belief, carpenter ants do not eat wood; they simply excavate it to build their colonies. Instead of food, carpenter ants are primarily motivated by moisture. They need water to survive, just like everything else, and excavating wood is thirsty work.

Carpenter ants tend to seek out and infest moist, wet, or decaying wood. Building into wet wood allows worker ants to stay hydrated while they work. It’s also easier to break down and transport wood when it’s already wet and piliable. Rotten wood is especially easy to burrow through, making it a favorite of carpenter ants. Queens tend to build nests into existing wood damage, as it provides shelter for eggs and a convenient starting point for newly-hatched workers.

How can I keep them out?

how can you keep carpenter ants out of your home?Preventing carpenter ants is all about wood management. Start in your yard. Look for any wood carpenter ants could conceivably build into. Remove stumps, dying bushes and shrubs, dead bark, and any other rotting wood. Keep firewood elevated off the ground or store it indoors. Walk the perimeter of your home looking removing and replacing rotting or cracked siding. Cover wood that directly contacts soil with hard plastic covers.

Inside, focus on moisture control. Identify and repair any plumbing leaks, especially if they could be leaking onto wooden structures. Monitor indoor humidity levels, particularly in at-risk areas like the basement, attic, or crawl spaces. Check for drafts around walls, doors, and windows. Make sure windows and pipes don’t “sweat” during particularly humid or cool days. Finally, replace any damaged wooden furniture or structures, especially if they’re showing signs of internal rot. If your basement is quite humid, consider moving any wooden items upstairs until you can install a dehumidifier.

 

You could probably use a little good news after all this bad news. We’ve got some… kind of: compared to termites, carpenter ants work slowly. The first year they establish a nest, the colony grows slowly and the damage it inflicts is minimal. After a year, however, the colony keeps growing at a consistently faster pace.

Obviously, that means it’s very important to find and snuff out carpenter ant infestations quickly. Luckily, you don’t have to do that alone. Your kingdom always has an ally in Griffin Pest Control. Give us a call with your carpenter ant problem anytime. We’re always ready to answer the call to arms.

Carpenter Ants in Michigan

Carpenter Ants in Michigan

Carpenter ants are the undercover saboteurs of the pest world. Disguised as the unassuming pavement or field ant, they infiltrate your home. Quietly, slowly, they establish themselves, building their base of operations. Year after year, their colony grows, until… your home is their home.

…Ok, so it’s not as dramatic as all that, but carpenter ants really are bad news. Despite their propensity to inflict serious damage all over Michigan, carpenter ants are far less well-known than their wood-munching rival, the termite. It’s time that changed. Here’s everything you should know about Michigan’s wood-tunneling terror, and how you can keep it away from your home.

What are carpenter ants?

What are carpenter ants?Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) are some of the largest and most common ants in Michigan. Adults have multiple “job” classifications depending on the role they perform for their colony. There are three distinct “castes”: workers, drones, and queens. Generally, ants of each caste range in size from ¼ to ¾ of an inch. They’re usually black, but they can also be dark brown, red, orangish, or dull yellow.

Carpenter ant workers resemble typical “sugar” ants, except they’re larger. Drones are larger than workers and have flight-capable wings.  Drones may be mistaken for termites, because they fly in swarms when mating. Carpenter ant queens are the largest and least numerous caste. It’s possible to distinguish carpenter ants from other species by examining their waists and thoraxes. Carpenter ants only have one “petiole” or waist segment separating their abdomen from their thorax. These thoraxes are evenly rounded and look smooth or uniform.

Why are they a problem?

Carpenter ants build their colony nests by carving tunnels through wood. Workers bore through moist, rotting, or damaged wood to create hollowed-out spaces for colony members to live. Unlike termites, carpenter ants don’t eat the wood they chew through. Instead, they break it down into a sawdust-like substance and transport it out of the tunnel. As carpenter ant colonies grow in size, workers continually expand their colonies’ tunnels through the infested wood.

Over a long enough period, tunnels carved by carpenter ants compromise the structural integrity of infested wood. It may even break, collapse, or fail, sometimes leading to expensive and potentially dangerous damage. Carpenter ant don’t usually do as much damage as termites, but they still pose a threat to wood in your home.

When are they active?

when are carpenter ants active?Carpenter ant workers actively build their nests whenever they’re warm enough to move around. Drones and queens emerge from their nests to swarm and mate during early spring. After mating, carpenter ant queens’ wings break off and they begin building a nest for their eggs. While the queens search for a nest, they are more visible than usual and may be encountered indoors. Don’t panic! That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve infested your home… yet. If you find several flying drones in your home, however, chances are they came from an indoor nest.

Carpenter ants usually spend winter dormant; they return to their nests and wait for temperatures to warm back up. If they’re nesting in a warm place such as your home, however, several workers may remain active all year. If you encounter carpenter ants indoors during the winter, they are most likely infesting wood in your home.

How do you get them?

Carpenter ants need moisture to survive, and chewing through wood dries them out in a hurry. Consequently, carpenter ants are only attracted to moist wood, or wood that is rotten and softening. Wet wood is easier, faster, and less resource-intensive to tunnel through. It gives way easier, and the colony can remain hydrated while expanding.

Outdoors, the ants primarily nest around rotten tree stumps, dead tree limbs, firewood, old fence posts, or rocks. Indoors, they’ll seek out any wood that’s already been compromised by water or humidity. If you have carpenter ants, it’s probably because some of the wood in or around your house is water-damaged. Plumbing leaks, humidity, drafts, puddling, and poor insulation all promote the environments that make wood appealing to carpenter ants.

How do you prevent them?

How do you prevent carpenter ants?The first thing you should look for when you have carpenter ants is a moisture problem. Make sure you don’t have any plumbing leaks. Check your home’s humidity, especially in your basement, attic, pantry, or crawlspace. Ensure your gutters, downspouts, sump pump, and drainage are all working properly. Look for puddles in your basement. Address any drafts you feel in your home, especially if it’s winter. Consider investing in a dehumidifier for particularly humid parts of the home.

If you happen to find water-damaged wood, dispose of it immediately. The longer carpenter ants infest a structure, the further they’ll spread. It’s possible locate a carpenter ant colony by finding the sawdust-like material they produce after boring through wood. Remove the nest by detaching and disposing of the damaged wood. If damage is extensive, you may want to enlist the help of a professional to avoid hurting surrounding structures.

The most dangerous thing about carpenter ants is their ability to go unnoticed. Now that you know what to look for, you’ve disarmed their most valuable tool. Don’t stop there. Next time you think you might have spotted a carpenter ant, trust your instincts. Track that little wood biter down and flush it out to save yourself a big headache in the future. This is your house!

And remember: if you ever need some back-up in the war against the wood monsters, give Griffin a call anytime. Any win we can snatch away from carpenter ants is a win for us!

Holiday Humbugs to Watch Out For This Winter

Holiday Humbugs to Watch Out For

The Holidays are a unique time of year. You travel to places you don’t usually visit, do things you don’t usually do, with people you don’t usually see. All this new activity can feel refreshing and exciting, but it can also come with new concerns and stresses.

Yes, there are the obvious Holiday stressors–family fights, obnoxious in-laws, cramped living quarters–but there are less-obvious concerns to keep in mind, too. Chief among them: pests. Believe it or not, even the most wonderful time of year isn’t safe from everyone’s least favorite (well, almost everyone’s least favorite) house guests. Lots of pests take the hustle and bustle of the Holidays as the perfect opportunity to invite themselves over.

Here’s how they do it, and how to keep them out:

Bed Bugs

Holiday bed bugsBed bugs hide in dark, confined places and remain perfectly still for hours on end. These dark, confined spaces aren’t just beds, either. Bed bugs often hide in suitcase, bags, and other common travel gear. If travelers fail to notice the bed bugs when they pack, then the pest can easily spread to each location visited. Your mom brings her own pillow over because yours are “too hard”, and all of a sudden you have bed bugs in your home for the Holidays. Thanks a lot, Karen.

The best way to prevent bed bugs is to carefully inspect stuff moving into and out of your home. Run clothing, sheets, bags, and other cloth items through the dryer (on the highest heat setting) for about 20 minutes before unpacking them. While you’re away, keep your clothing sealed in plastic travel bags when you’re not wearing it. Keep your travel bags closed tight and elevated anytime you’re not going through them.

Moths

holiday mothsThere are two types of common pest moths: pantry-infesting moths and fabric-infesting moths. Unfortunately, both can be a problem during the holiday season. If fabric moths infest cloth decorations, they might be reproducing year-round. When you take your decorations out of storage for the holidays, you unleash them into your home like a tomb raider uncovering an ancient civilization’s curse. Clean all your decorations before you unpack them to save yourself a major headache.

Pantry-infesting moths are a little easier to figure out. These pests love sugary carbs. Holiday baking leads to big holiday baking messes. Big holiday baking messes lead to spilled flour, misplaced sugar, and excess crumbs. Accessible food… leads to moths all-too happy to eat that food. Clean your kitchen and keep your pantry tidy to ensure that Santa is the only home invader eating the cookies you leave out this Holiday season.

Spiders

holiday spidersRemember when we covered how spiders survive winter last month? Well, it turns out Christmas trees are a great place for spiders to build their aforementioned winter shelters. They make their way through pine branches until they find a sturdy spot. Then, they build a casing of webbing for themselves using the branches as support.

When spiders start to feel warm, they make their way out of their shelters to start eating and mating. Imagine a spider’s surprise when burrow out of their webs, only to find they’ve been transported into a person’s home? Inspect your Christmas tree carefully before you bring it inside. Consider using a handheld shopvac to vacuum up any cobwebs hanging near the tree’s trunk. Spiders can build their webs just about anywhere, so be thorough.

Mice

holiday miceUnfortunately, “not a creature was stirring–not even a mouse” is not always true of the night before Christmas. The Holiday season tends to be prime time for rodential raiders. Mice have an extremely powerful sense of smell. Not only can they sense food through tiny cracks in walls, they can sense specific information about that food. If they “smell” food that’s ripe for stealing, you’ll wind up with more house guests than you can handle!

Mice are attracted to food they can steal, moisture they can access when they need it, and warmth. They sneak through small cracks in the wall in pursue of food smells. There are ways to ward them off, however. First, store all your food in airtight containers when you’re not eating it. Next, check your plumbing for leaks mice could use as tiny water fountains. Finally, update weatherproofing, particularly around doors and windows. Mice are tenacious and stubborn, but they’re not Santa Claus; they can’t magically access your home.

 

Stressful as they can be, the holidays are ultimately supposed to be a joyful, refreshing time of year. Pests are neither joy-inducing nor refreshing, so they’ve got no business bugging you this Holiday season.

If you need some help kick your pests to the curb this winter, give Griffin Pest Solutions a call any time. We may not be Santa, but we can spread a different kind of Holiday cheer. A distinctly more John McClane type of holiday cheer. Now you have no pests. Ho Ho Ho.