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With the first warm days of March, masses of insects may make their appearance in "swarms" causing panic to all home owners. These Spring invaders are Carpenter Ants. Though there are more than a dozen species of carpenter ants in Texas, the more common ones that are dealt with around the home will be Camponotus rasilis and Camponotus sayi. The coloration will be red bodied with a black abdomen (back half). Though carpenter ants are considered a Wood Destroying Insect, the two common species found around the home rarely create galleries in sound wood and will be a secondary problem, moving into already damaged wood from termites or moisture damage. In fact, the vast majority of the time, they will not be in wood at all, but hollowed areas found around the house. Common spots are the aluminum tubing of window screens, storm doors and storm windows. Interior doors many times are what are described as "hollow core" doors. Do to the way these doors are created, the finished product may have two small holes on the top and bottom side of the doors, creating the perfect entrance to a ready made home for the ants.
The easiest description for carpenter ants is their size. They are a very large ant. The workers, or foragers, will vary in size ranging from 1/4 of an inch to around 1/2 an inch. The male swarmers, which may leave the nest before the future queens, will be black in color, just under a half inch long, with clear wings that look as if made from cellophane. The winged female will be over a half inch in length, once again with the cellophane looking wings.
Locating piles of "frass" is another way of discovering carpenter ant activity. This matter is a collection of different debris cleaned out of the nest itself. It will consist of various wood particles excavated from the nest site, pieces of dead insects they may of fed on and even their own dead sisters now thrown out with the trash. They will pick an area to discard the frass and over time it will pile up. Many times the debris is swept up and is found to return within a few days. By going straight up from the frass pile, you should be able to locate the exit hole they are using.
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