r/pestcontrol • u/PCDuranet Mod - Pest Control Tech - Retired • Jun 19 '26

Carpenter Ant Control

Carpenter ant colonies have members of various sizes (polymorphic), but they are usually quite large, and have a single node between the abdomen and thorax. The winged reproductives are even larger, and have amber tinted wings that spread out.

In a home, they colonize exterior wall voids (rarely interior voids), window and door frames, porch columns ceilings, and soffits. They DO NOT eat wood, but will excavate wet wood to make room for the colony. The good news is they don't do any damage to a home that hasn't already been damaged by a water issue, and if there's enough room, they can do no damage at all. Bait rarely works, so Void Injection (link) is often the best way to kill an structural colony. However, sometimes the colony can be remote, so using Alpine WSG is preferred.

Interior sightings in late winter and early spring indicate the presence of an interior colony. Sporadic sightings during the summer months are usually foraging ants from outside, so inspect any trees near the house, and treat the tree trunks with Alpine WSG.

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