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Successful Carpenter Ant Management Without Pesticides JOURNAL OF PESTICIDE REFORM/ SPRING 2005 • VOL. 25, NO. 1 ALTERNATIVES SUCCESSFUL CARPENTER ANT MANAGEMENT WITHOUT PESTICIDES 4 BY CAROLINE COX as twenty satellite nests. The main nest requires moisture, so it will either be outside or, if indoors, near a leak Carpenter ant problems are no- or a poorly drained area.5 Typically torious for being costly and difficult the parent nest is in decaying or rot- to solve. In the Pacific Northwest, most ten wood.5 Often the parent nest is calls from homeowners to pest con- located in a tree or stump, while most trol companies are about carpenter ant indoor nests will be satellites. The ants problems.1 Yet, there are straightfor- maintain trails for travelling between ward ways to prevent carpenter ant the satellite nests and the main nest.5 problems in your home and avoid the Oregon State University/Ken Gray Carpenter ants do not always build need to use pesticides. their nests in wood. They can suc- you have more than just a few wan- cessfully nest in insulation and paper.3 Benefits of Carpenter Ants dering ants. Sometimes ants will enter Carpenter ants “play a significant a house while they’re out foraging; or Don’t Panic! ecological role in forested ecosys- queen ants will fly inside. “These oc- Carpenter ant colonies grow slowly. tems.”2 A nest of carpenter ants can eat casional ants may not actually be caus- It takes between two and four years thousands of insects that would other- ing problems,” according to Washing- for a colony to grow to several hun- wise feed on forest trees. In turn, the ton State University Extension.5 dred workers.5 You have plenty of time ants are food for other creatures; a well- to plan a successful, pesticide-free ant known animal that feeds on carpenter What Do Carpenter Ants Eat? management strategy. A satellite colony ants is the pileated woodpecker.2 Carpenter ants do not eat wood. started by a well-established parent Most of their food is insects and hon- colony can damage your house more Recognizing Carpenter Ant eydew, although they will eat house- quickly,5 but you still don’t need to Problems hold items like candy, honey, soda rush into action. If you see large black or red-and- pop, and pet food.6 black ants in your home (between 1/4 Preventing Carpenter Ant and 1/2 inch long) you may have a Nests Problems carpenter ant problem.3 One of the Carpenter ants often build a large You can prevent carpenter ant prob- first things you’ll need to decide is if “parent” nest and then add as many lems by taking some common-sense your guests are carpenter ants or if steps around your home: they are termites, insects frequently • Caulk cracks that ants could use to confused with carpenter ants. Here are enter your house.4 four important differences: • Caulk around electrical and water • Ants, but not termites, have a thin lines where they enter your house.5 waist.3 • Trim branches near your house so • Termites have short, straight anten- that they aren’t touching it. This nae. Ants’ antennae are elbowed.3 keeps ants from using the branch as • Carpenter ants make rustling noises a “highway” into your home.4 inside their galleries.3 • Consider installing a gravel or stone 4 • Carpenter ants create piles of saw- Oregon State University/Ken Gray strip around your house. dust when they build galleries in • Store firewood away from your wood. Termites, because they eat house and up off the ground. You wood, leave tiny pellets of frass.4 can build a woodpile on concrete You’ll also want to make sure that blocks so it’s not touching the earth.5 • Don’t bring firewood into your house if it’s infested with ants.3 Caroline Cox is JPR’s editor. A carpenter ant nest. • Don’t feed ants. Store food in ant- NORTHWEST COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES/NCAP 8 P. O. BOX 1393, EUGENE, OREGON 97440 / (541)344-5044 / www.pesticide.org JOURNAL OF PESTICIDE REFORM/ SPRING 2005 • VOL. 25, NO.1 proof containers.4 •Clean clogged gutters to prevent water damage to your house.4 • Remove logs, stumps, and waste wood near and under your house.3 • Make sure crawl spaces and attics are well-ventilated.5 • The wooden parts of porches and decks should not be in contact with the ground. Use concrete pier blocks underneath them.5 • Make sure that window sills and door frames do not contact soil.5 • Use a vapor barrier if you have a crawl space.5 •Fix any leaks in the roof and plumb- ing pipes.7 • Eliminate any damp conditions in To prevent carpenter ant problems, prune trees away from your house and seal places where or near your house.4 electric and water lines go through exterior walls. • Replace any damaged structural wood in your house.4 ant nest is located, you may simply be 24(2):10-15 or www.pesticide.org/ able to remove the nest once you’ve boricacid.pdf. Solving Carpenter Ant located it. If the nest has damaged Avoid most carpenter ant pesticides, Problems: Locating a Nest structural parts of your house, repair especially broadcast or perimeter treat- The first step in solving a carpenter the damage.8 ments. NCAP has information about ant problem is to locate the nest. This the hazards of many carpenter ant pes- involves a little detective work and is Solving Carpenter Ant ticides at www.pesticide.org. “often difficult but not impossible.”5 Problems: Removing Ants Look for the sawdust that the ants If it’s not possible to remove the Conclusion create when they dig out their galler- nest, you can remove the ants (both Carpenter ants are difficult pests, ies. Listen for the sounds of the ants adult and immature) from the nest with but not impossible ones. The steps as they enlarge their nest. If your house a vacuum cleaner. When you’ve fin- outlined in this article will help you has a crawl space, go under the house ished vacuuming, be sure to dispose protect your home from carpenter ant with a metal rod or a hammer. Tap all of the bag to prevent the ants from damage without using pesticides. the structural wood and listen for dif- getting loose and returning.3 ferences in sound. When you hit the Researchers from Washington State References spot with the nest it will usually sound University have calculated that vacu- 1. Klotz, J. 2003. Hot on the trail! www.PCTonline.com. hollow. Typically a knife blade will uming removes about 80 percent of 2. Akre, R.D., L.D. Hansen, and E.A. Myhre. 1995. easily penetrate the wood around the the adults, and 60 percent of the brood My house or yours? The biology of carpenter nest. You can also look for crawling (immature ants).6 This means that you’ll ants. Amer. Entomol. (Winter):221-226. 3. Oregon State University Extension Service. ants and follow their trail back to their want to vacuum more than once. 1997. Controlling carpenter ants. EC 627. http:// nest. Carpenter ants are most active at eesc.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/edmat/html/EC/ night, so a warm evening is a good Pesticides for Carpenter Ants EC627/EC627.html 5 4. Univ. of California. Div. of Agriculture and Natu- time to look for trails. NCAP does not recommend the ral Resources. 2000. Carpenter ants. Publ. 7416. Once you’ve located the nest, you use of pesticides. However, we rec- http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/ need to decide if it’s a satellite nest or ognize that you or your pest control pn7416.html. 5 5. Washington State University Extension. 2005. a parent nest. Most commonly, what operator may believe that your car- Carpenter ants: Their biology and control. Ex- you’ll find inside your house is a sat- penter ant problems require a pesti- tension Bull. 0818. http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/ ellite nest; a survey in Washington cide treatment. If so, consider the CEPublications/eb0818/eb0818.pdf. 6. Hansen, L.D. and R.D. Akre. 1985. Biology of car- found that 75 percent of home car- use of boric acid or borate products. penter ants in Washington state (Hymenoptera: penter ant infestations involved a sat- They can be applied as baits tar- Formicidae: Camponotus). Melandria 43:1-61. 6 ellite nest. If your nest is a satellite geted to areas where ants are active, 7. Cornell Cooperative Extension Urban IPM Pro- gram. 1997. Integrated pest management for car- nest, you’ll need to locate the parent as paint-on wood preservatives in penter ants. Information Sheet No. 601. http:// nest for most effective management.5 out-of-the-way locations, or as dusts www.nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/antbro.html. inside wall voids. These techniques 8. British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Solving Carpenter Ant minimize exposure to people and Air Protection. 1992. Integrated pest manage- Problems: Removing a Nest ment. Safe and sensible pest control: Carpenter pets. For information about the ants. http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/epd/epdpa/ipmp/ Depending on where your carpenter hazards of these products, see JPR Brochures/carp_ant.htm. NORTHWEST COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES/NCAP P. O. BOX 1393, EUGENE, OREGON 97440 / (541)344-5044 / www.pesticide.org 9.
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