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[photo: Robert Friebe - GNUFDL1.2 ]
CARPENTER ANTS
Camponotus pennsylvanicus
- Carpenter Ants are the largest ant species found in Ohio. They naturally reside in decaying trees, creating vast galleries in fallen trees, stumps, etc. for their nesting colonies. These galleries actually help the wood decompose more quickly. They present a nuisance when they invade homes in search of food. They very rarely burrow into dry lumber. Home infestations are more likely in damp wooded areas, such as developments near wetlands or built on reclaimed wetland.
- The most common species of carpenter ant is shiny black with some brown or reddish coloration. Workers average 5/8" long. The workers have very large mandibles for wood excavation. Eggs and larvae are small and white. Pupae cocoons are tan.
- Carpenter ants do not actually eat wood. A common sign indicating the location of carpenter ant nests are small piles of fine wood dust very similar to "sawdust" where workers have excavated their galleries.
- A colony may produce 200-to-400 winged ants during a summer. These hibernate during the Winter, then leave the nest the following Spring or Summer. If a colony is near or inside of a warm building, they will remain active all Winter long instead of hibernating. A colony can expand to 2000-to-3000 workers within just a few years, expanding well beyond that if left undisturbed.
- With each succeeding brood, workers increase in body size, as foraging workers take over the task of feeding larvae from the queens. Workers from a queen's first brood may only be about 1/4" long, but later broods may grow as large are 3/4" long. As such, the presence of very small or very large workers can indicate how long a colony has been established, and thus how many hundreds or thousands may be found.
- Life cycle from egg to worker is completed in about 60 days. Workers can live up to seven years, and queens can live up to 25 years. The long life cycle, huge numbers, and well hidden nests can make these ants extremely difficult to eradicate, requiring ongoing vigilance to avoid attraction, as well as control when found. Because of the extensive damage they cause, they can pose a structural hazard to any building they invade.
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This page is intended as a quick reference. Pest experts should be contacted for case-by-case evaluation if you believe that you have a pest problem that requires professional assistance.
Some information found in this overview has been compiled from household pest information sheets published by the Ohio State University Extension Office: HYG-2064-96, by the Penn State University Extension Office: Carpenter Ant Fact Sheet, and by the National Pest Management Association: Pest Guide. This information is included on this web site strictly to help in the identification of various pests, and no profit is directly derived there from. To read the complete fact sheets, which also include helpful tips on how to avoid attracting these pests, what types of elimination can be handled in the home vs. what types of elimination require the assistance of a professional, visit the respective links.
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