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Carpenter Ant Facts & Information

Protect your home or business from carpenter ants by learning techniques for identification and control.

Carpenter ant illustration
Camponotus spp.
3.4 to 13 mm
Black, brown, or red & black
Rounded thorax & large mandibles

Treatment

How do I get rid of carpenter ants?

What Orkin Does

In controlling a carpenter ant infestation, it is necessary to first find the nest. Once identified, it can be removed or treated chemically. All moisture conditions that the ants found conducive must be corrected.

If treated early, serious structural damage to houses and buildings can be avoided. However, these ants could damage structures immensely if they continue undiscovered for an extended period.

DIY control methods often involve incorrect procedures that can allow the colony to rebound when surviving members resume their burrowing and foraging.

Orkin Pros are trained to help manage carpenter ants and similar pests. Since every building or home is different, your Orkin Pro will design a unique carpenter ant treatment program for your situation.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Behavior, Diet & Habits

Understanding Carpenter Ants

Appearance

  • Length: Carpenter ants are among the largest ants in the United States, ranging from 3.4 to 13 mm long. More size information.

  • Color: The most common color is black, but some species have reddish or yellowish coloration. The color also varies among species, ranging from jet-black to dark brown, red, black, yellow, orange, yellowish tan or light brown. Some ants exhibit both red and black coloration.

  • Mandibles: Workers have large mandibles.

Read more about carpenter ant identification.

Habitat

Carpenter ants reside both outdoors and indoors in moist, decaying or hollow wood.

Diet

Carpenter ants do not eat wood as termites do, but instead remove wood and deposit the debris outside of their nests in small piles. They will feed on a variety of food people eat—particularly sweets and meats. They will also feed on other insects.

Attraction to Moisture

In natural environments, carpenter ants dwell in both dead and living trees, stumps and rotting logs. However, they may also establish their nests inside of homes and buildings where wood is found, especially where wood has been exposed to severe moisture.

Reproduction

Queens lays 9 to 16 eggs the first year and may live up to 25 years. Eggs complete their life cycle in about 6 to 12 weeks.

Galleries & Nests

Ants of the genus Camponotus are known as carpenter ants because they prefer to establish their colonies in galleries excavated from damp or damaged wood. They cut galleries into the wood grain to form their nests and provide passageways for movement from section to section of the nest. This activity produces wood shavings mixed with parts of dead ants which provides clues to nesting locations.

Carpenter ants clean their nesting sites, and their galleries are not lined with mud or moist soil as termite galleries typically are. The workers keep their galleries as smooth as sandpapered wood.

Parent vs. Satellite Colonies

Carpenter ants build two types of nests: parent colonies and satellite colonies. Parent colonies consist of a queen, her brood, and workers. Satellite colonies consist of workers, older larvae, and pupae. Workers create satellite colonies when the parent colony lacks sufficient space or when there is a suitable supply of food or water. There may be several satellite colonies associated with a parent colony.

More Information

How to Identify a Carpenter Ant

What Does a Carpenter Ant Look Like?

Carpenter Ant Size

Carpenter Ant Larvae

Carpenter Ant Bites

Natural Carpenter Ant Pesticide

Red and Black Carpenter Ants

Boric Acid and Carpenter Ants

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