Even though it rarely gets too cold here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, it’s not uncommon for many houses to open the flue and kindle a nice fire while they’re decorating the Christmas tree or baking dad’s favorite cookies.

Unfortunately, when you bring firewood into your home, you might be transporting some unwelcome guests along with it.

Carpenter ants are often mistaken for winged termites. And while they both can cause significant damage to the structure of your home, they operate very differently. Termites are devouring the wood while carpenter ants are simply burrowing into the lumber, removing pieces of it so they can build their nests inside.

Another interesting difference is that Florida carpenter ants – the ones we see most often in our area – look for existing voids to nest in or excavate only soft materials such as rotten or pithy wood and Styrofoam.

Florida Carpenter Ants

In our section of the Sunshine State, we actually have two species of Carpenter ants – Camponotus floridanus and Camponotus tortuganus. They are similar, with C. tortuganus often slightly more red.

Both species measure from a quarter to three quarters of an inch long. They have long, golden body hairs on their 3-segmented bodies, topped by a rusty red head and long, segmented antennae.

Those with wings – called alates – have wings just a little longer than their bodies. You won’t see many of these or much evidence of them (they eventually shed the wings) this time of year, but be on the lookout in April and through the beginning of summer.

Signs to Look Out For

Carpenter ants are most active in your home in the hours right around dusk and dawn. That’s when you might see them out foraging for sweet treats or a little moisture. You may also be able to hear them moving around – a rustling sound – inside your walls.

Be on the lookout for signs of nesting. As we said, carpenter ants don’t eat wood, but they do produce a sawdust like frass – made up of wood fragments, soil, and insect parts. It’s definitely less well defined than pelletized frass left behind by drywood termites.

In addition to you accidentally bringing carpenter ants into your home, they may find their own way in through cables or wires that lead indoors. They can also use a tree branch that lays on or touches your roof as a bridge. They are attracted to food and moisture, and like us, prefer sugary snacks over healthy ones – so remnants of syrup, jelly, or honey might catch their attention, although they will also settle for bits of meat and pet food.

Protecting Your Home

The best way to prevent carpenter – or really most – ants from lingering in your home is to keep things clean. Spilled food, even a tiny bit, draws ants and other insects. Make sure your pantry food is secured in sealed containers. When you do spring cleaning, be sure not to neglect the crevices around your fridge door – it’s easy for food drippings to land on the rubber of your door gasket, attracting bugs.

Outside your home, keep your hedges trimmed, remove old tree trunks or any other rotting wood promptly, and make sure none of your trees are touching your home. You’ll also want to seal up any gaps, especially around doors and places where wires enter your home – where your cable or internet connection is, where the power enters the house, or where the old landline cable used to be.

This is one of the first things we do for our clients – an inspection of their home and helping them seal up access points for insects and other pests. Then we apply our family-friendly Go Green Perimeter Plus solution inside and out to remove and prevent the most common insect invaders we see – ants, silverfish, spiders, and cockroaches.

We come back every 4 months and repeat the treatment as needed to keep your whole home safe year round. For more details on this or any of our green, effective pest solutions, please just give us a call!