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Due to their size and vulnerability, ants appear to be harmless at first glance. However, certain species are very dangerous and can be a real hazard for your home. This is particularly true of carpenter ants, which are widespread in Quebec. It is important to know how to recognize them and be aware of the risks they present.

How to recognize carpenter ants

Carpenter ants are a species of omnivorous ant, characterized by a black, sometimes brownish or black with red spots appearance. They measure between 6 to 13 mm long on average, depending on whether it is the queen, a male or worker ant. In Quebec, there are 5 different species: the red carpenter ant, the black carpenter ant, the pavement ant, the pharaoh ant and the brown ant. Carpenter ants are particularly fond of damp wood as a habitat and can often be found in forests or wood houses.

What are the dangers for your home?

The distinctive feature of carpenter ants is their place of habitat: damp wood. As such, they dig tunnels in wood to build their nest to settle. Once the nest is populated with inhabitants, the carpenter ants leave to a nearby area to dig and build another nest to enlarge their colony. In addition, as a result of global warming, insect infestations are becoming more frequent and severe due to faster reproduction. As far as carpenter ants are concerned, their way of life presents a real danger for your home, since they can seriously damage and weaken your framework, your walls, your floors and essentially everything that is made of wood at home. In other words, the more time passes, the more your structures will weaken and have the potential to collapse. The consequences of a collapse can be very serious.

How do you know if your home is infested with carpenter ants?

Their presence in the damp corners of your home

Since ants crave moisture, they tend to settle in moisture-laden corners of your home, such as behind your dishwasher, in window or door frames, in the attic or near a bathroom. Check that these places are safe and not infested.

Sawdust on your floors

Carpenter ants are omnivorous, which is to say they feed primarily on other insects and refrain from eating the wood they dig through. They are content to leave it behind. Therefore, piles of sawdust on your floors are a revealing sign of a carpenter ant infestation.

Things to remember about the risks of carpenter ants

Carpenter ants are omnivorous ants that dig tunnels in the damp wood of your home, making it very fragile. It is therefore vital to get rid of them quickly before they cause the structure of your house to collapse. You can try to get rid of them on your own or hire a professional exterminator.