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Do Not Underestimate The Carpenter Ant
April 24, 2018
Everyone knows how much damage termites cause but there is another pest that can cause damage to the structural support of your homes. Carpenter ants are destructive little pests that can do just as much damage as termites in your Tulsa, OK home! You’ll want to know how to tell the difference between a termite and carpenter ant. You’ll also want to learn how to prevent them and how to get help from Montgomery Exterminators should you suspect a carpenter ant problem.
Carpenter ants like to make their homes in damp softwood. Unlike the termite, they don’t eat the wood, they tunnel through it to create their colonies. As they tunnel they create weakness in the structure of the wood they are tunneling through. They most often take up residence in the eaves around your roof, window frames, decks, and porches as these areas are most frequently exposed to moisture and make good homes. If multiple satellite colonies are formed in and around your home, the structural integrity of your home could be compromised.
You may think you can easily tell the difference between a termite and a carpenter ant, but sometimes it’s not that simple. They both have small bodies and wings and live in your wood structures. Upon closer inspection though, you will find that the body of a termite looks like it is all one piece or has no ‘waist’ whereas an ant has a segmented body and a clearly defined narrowing in the middle. Both have four wings, but where a termite’s wings are all uniform in size and extend beyond the body, the carpenter ants wings are not the same size - the back wings are noticeably shorter than the front wings.
Removing their food source and eliminating suitable housing for carpenter ants is a good way to try to prevent them on your own. They like to eat other dead bugs so having a pest-free environment is a good start. Being sure to clear gutters, making sure your roof is in good repair, eliminating leaking hoses and generally keeping wood parts of your home dry makes them less appealing to carpenter ants.
Often, no matter what you try on your own you just can’t prevent carpenter ants from deciding to build their colonies in your Tulsa area yard or home. Having help from professionals is often the only solution. The experts at Montgomery Exterminating will evaluate your situation and recommend a pest control plan that is suited to protect your home in the best way possible and will rid you of your carpenter ant problem.
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