Pest Briefs: Carpenter Ants 101
By: Robert (Bob) Batman

NATURAL ENTOMOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION

Phylum Arthropoda
Class Hexapoda or Insecta
Order Hymenoptera
Family Formicidae
Genus/species Camponotus pennsylvanicus [DeGeer] or Camponotus modoc [Wheeler]), and others.

Morphosis: Complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, and adult). If you see an ant out walking about, it is an adult, and adult ants don't shed their exoskeleton. Insects which go through complete metamorphosis grow in the larval stages. Workers are polymorphic (from approximately 1/8 to 1/2 inch long.

OUCH! THAT THING BITE ME! Carpenter ants can bite!

VERY BRIEF BIOLOGY: Usually only one reproductive (primary female or queen) per colony. Colony size is usually described in terms of the numbers of workers per colony after 3 to 6 years: small colonies up to 20,000 workers, and; large colonies up to over 1000,000 workers. Swarmers are not produced until the colony is over 2 years old. Carpenter ants gnaw on wood, REPEAT, gnaw on wood: they do not eat (consume for nutritional value) wood. This pest can cause serious damage to wooden framed and/or trimmed buildings.

PROFESSIONAL PEST CONTROL SERVICE RECOMMENDED: I've seen disastrous results from so-called do-it-yourself attempts at ant control! More than one service trip may be needed, depending of the situation.

YOU SHOULD ALSO READ OUR PEST BRIEF: ANTS. Instead of repeating information in this Brief, I hereby refer you to my Pest Brief: Ants.

If you live in the Greater Kansas City (Missouri and Kansas) Metropolitan Area, call Best at (816) 765-8844 or (913) 671-8844.