Carpenter ants are meticulous workers and though
beneficial in the environment, will do damage to your house or cottage!
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Carpenter ants have earned their name from their habit of
building galleries in wood, together with meticulous finishing and cleaning of
surfaces within the structures. Their nest and tunnels open up damp and
rotting wood so that it can be more quickly broken down by decomposers, such as
fungi and other insects. They are the largest of our common ants, the
brown or black workers measuring from 6 to 13 mm in length, while the queen may
be more than 25 mm long. In late spring and early summer carpenter ant
colonies produce winged adults. These swarm in mating flights, and may be
a nuisance around homes at these times. Outdoors, they nest in stumps,
hollow logs, telephone poles and fence posts. Carpenter ant foraging
activity peaks at sundown during the spring. Foraging activity in the
summer peaks at the break of day, and foraging by indoor colonies in the winter
is highly variable with slightly more activity during the day.
In buildings, they often make their nest in hollow, paneled doors, behind washing machines, dishwashers and other damp areas. They
also nest behind baseboards, fireplaces, in window frames, and in basements and
attics. Although they normally excavate their nest in wood, they may also
nest in Styrofoam, fiberglass and other insulation materials that have not been
treated to withstand attack. They usually limit the size of the colony in
the area of the humid wood, but will also attack dry wood.
Carpenter ants can be seen in infested buildings at any time
of the year searching for food at considerable distances from their nest.
In some colonies a dormancy period occurs for several weeks during the winter
months. Carpenter ants concentrate ethylene glycol in their blood to avoid
freezing during over-wintering. Although they chew their way through wood,
leaving small particles resembling sawdust called frass, they do not eat
it. Instead, they feed on a wide range of insects, plant materials and,
indoors, on household foodstuffs. All insect and material waste is ejected
through the nest opening so that the nest itself is kept clean.
For more information about carpenter ants and other ant
species see
Ants.
Description of the carpenter ant:
- queen is brown or black and larger than the rest of the
colony
- queen bites off her wings after mating and is the only ant
in the colony to lay eggs
- worker is brown or black and wingless
- workers are sterile females
- workers have mandibles for chewing
- soldier is brown or black and larger than workers
- soldiers have large, strong mandibles
- soldiers are wingless and have large heads
- metamorphosis is complete, eggs hatch in 24 days, larval
stage is 21 days and pupal stage is 21 days
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