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American Pest Control of Massachusetts
The Pest Bulletin
Carpenter Ants Are Active
More homeowners are calling us about carpenter ants as the weather warms and the ants become more active. Sometimes carpenter ants have been causing damage for years before a homeowner becomes aware of them and phones for help.
Besides finding damaged wood, there are many other signs of carpenter ants to watch for. From spring to early summer winged ants may appear indoors. That is a definite sign of problems. The winged ants, called swarmers, are the female and male reproductive's that will mate and start new colonies. If they appear indoors they are coming from a main or satellite nest. They are attracted to windows and other light sources, so you might discover these winged ants, or their cast off wings on window sills. Small piles of debris are another sign of a carpenter ant problem. Worker ants constantly enlarge the galleries where the ants live, hollowing out the wood, increasing the size of their nest. From tiny holes or cracks within their nest these ants push out the sawdust they produce, plus dead ants and other debris. Unfortunately, most of the time this goes unseen since the ants are usually in a wall void the debris falls between the wall void, so it is not detected.
Carpenter ants are most active at night and sometimes make faint rustling noises (almost like rice krispies) that can be heard through the walls.
Carpenter ant workers searching for food indoors or around your home is a cause for concern, but it does not necessarily mean there is a nest already indoors.
Call us if you suspect or find carpenter ants in or around your home. We are carpenter ant and termite experts. We can prevent these pests from causing serious damage to your home.
Carpenter Ants Starting New Colonies
Long before we started using antifreeze in our cars, carpenter ants were using a similar product, glycerol, to keep the liquids in their bodies from freezing. This natural substance their bodies produce gives these ants an amazing ability to survive even freezing temperatures. It also means carpenter ant colonies survive the winter intact, ready to cause more damage when warm weather arrives.
In the spring, winged ants called "swarmers" fly out of mature carpenter ant colonies and take to the air. Swarmers are fully reproductive males and females, unlike the more common worker ants, which are sterile. The sole purpose of swarmers is to establish new colonies. Female swarmers, which will be future colony queens, mate, find protected spots to nest in, lose their wings and then begin their lifelong task of laying eggs.
As carpenter ant colonies expand in size, they also begin to form what we call "satellite" colonies (nest). A large colony may have one, or in unusual cases, up to a dozen or more satellite colonies, and because these colonies cooperate, they greatly extend the amount of area a colony can cover as they look for food. Often the main carpenter nest is located where there is more moisture, either indoors or outdoors: the satellitecolonies may be located in a similar or dryer spot.
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Termites are Swarming!
If you've ever seen termite swarmers pouring out of the ground or holes in wood, you've witnessed the most significant annual event of a termite colony.
A single colony may send out hundreds of winged termites, the future kings and queens of new colonies and there can be many colonies in an area, resulting in thousands of swarmers within a small block.
Any one colony may send out all its swarmers at once, or they may come out in pulses over several weeks.
The greatest amount of swarming occurs in the spring (often on a warm day after a rain), although some swarming can occur at other times of the year as well,
Unfortunately, if you find swarmers indoors or coming out of areas near or next to your foundation, it is usually a sign that the structure is infested with damaging termites. Not only that, but the winged termites are coming from a larger, more mature colony, because a termite colony is generally four to five years old before it begins producing its first swarmers. As colonies age, they generally start sending out more swarmers.
If you find swarmers inside or near your home, see if you are able to collect a sample, call us right away, we'll determine if the pest are termites or swarming ants (which can easily mistaken for termites) and we'll perform an inspection. If there is an infestation of termites or other wood damaging pest, we'll help you select the best and most cost effective control strategy for your particular pest situation.
Thank you for your business and referrals!
508-528-8269
