Urban Ant
Carpenter Ants (Camponotus rufipes)

In a day they are in the kitchen; another day, in the in the bathroom; one week later they are taking over the house. They get into delicate electronic gears, damage computers and we still know very little about them.
It is torture to live together with them; it will lead anyone to madness.

Carpenters Ants have caused serious damage to appliances by building their nests on it. They invade in addition, VCRs, refrigerators, televisions, ovens, microwaves, small central telephones (PABX), telephone devices, microcomputers and washing machines, clothes.

Nightmare with antennae

With the beginning of the summer comes an increase in the quantity of ants. They are considered by specialists to be the biggest urban pests of the season.

They seem harmless and usually circulate freely until someone notices their presence. Their preferential targets are the remains of food left in the kitchen, but they do hide anywhere, even inside the computer.

How to Manage

Discovering how to manage carpenter ants can be difficult. You can determine whether you have carpenter ants or termites by examining the damage done to wood. Termites also cover the nest with mud; the nest of carpenter ants will be clean of any mud or debris.

How to control carpenter ants?

The carpenters ants are big and they move quickly and at night.
They are extremely difficult to be controlled, therefore, their reduction will be noticed at about the tenth week of treatment.

The successful control of the carpenter ants needs certain skills, knowledge and experience. This control implies the treatment of so many colony satellites, and they are possible inside and out of the house. You must also seek and eliminate the colony mother. To have access to the mother colony can turn out to be difficult because it can be located on top of a tree or in a neighbor’s property.
In such cases professional services can be used for baiting carpenters ants, but it may have different results because of the affected eating habits of carpenters ants. If the conditions on your property (such as the presence of many trees, for example) constitute a risk for a reinvasion, professional service might be recommended to regular services to prevent new plague.

The inspection work must be guided for a period of between 12 and 20 hours, preferably during the night.

Methodologies of control

The control of ants is complicated, since these insects manage to have a very big distribution in the property, causing control difficulties. To improve the efficiency of treatments, another inspection will have to be made 10 to 20 days later.

PREVENTION

• These tips will help contain the invasion of carpenter ants:
• Seal openings and slits inside residences;
• Maintain food kept in containers well sealed;
• Maintain the environment free of food crumbs
• Store firewood away from your home and remove dead wood that may be close to the ground.
• Perform periodic cuts to your trees to avoid dead branches; trunks of dead trees must be removed. Keep your yard free of these potential homes for carpenters.
• Ensure that water leaks and roof leaks are repaired, and keep places that are susceptible to moisture in good condition.
• The rainwater that leaks should be directed away from homes, to prevent accumulation near the foundation.

Although carpenter ants are among the bigger species of ants, size is not a good way to identify the ant. Carpenter ants vary in size, even between one colony. A Pest control specialist in your City town can tell if you have an infestation of carpenter ants.

Cautions when hiring a Pest control specialist

• Request references on the company.
• Require “the permit of operation” emitted by the Office of the secretary of Health.
• Always ask for a price that is “closed”, diagnosis of the situation and places of implementation.
• Know what insecticide will be used, especially if there are children in the house or people that are allergic.