Black Carpenter Ants!!!

[MST3KFan]

At my folks home, where I still live for now, our computer is at and next to it is a pool table with a cover on it. Anyway, as I'm working on the computer I hear the sound of something small hit the pool table with a 'tap'. I look over to see a black winged bug apparently having burned itself on the light above the pool table and proceed to squish it in a napkin, thinking nothing else of it.

Until it happens again...and again...and again. Next thing I know I have like 15 napkins of squished bugs in our wastebasket.

I tell my Dad whom also said he had squished some previously as well and we start to look around for a source of where they're coming from and see one coming up from between the wood area under a window.

These little buggers have apparently gotten into the basement walls of my parents home. We realize we must have a few nests now in the walls alongside the basement windows, which is where according to our research online tells us as an indication of where they be by little piles of sawdust and stuff.

So my Dad sprays the areas in hopes of dealing with them, until I read how liquid insecticides aren't the way to go, but some kind of dust like substance.

My Dad worries about having to have a massive bill as a result of an exterminator coming out and would like to deal with this in a way that won't be insanely costly.

I would also like to not have to keep squishing the buggers or looking over at the pool table everytime I hear a 'tap' noise.

Anyone else have problems with these pests?

[B.A. Shipp]

I have had problems with ants here in Missouri. It has been unusually raining this summer and the ants are trying to find a new home in my home. All over the place.

[Zefram]

Definately get ant bait. They sell them at most supermarkets. Ants find it, bring it back to the nest and the whole lot gets wiped out.

[G.I.Eddie]

tha stuff tha you spray around the perimeter of your house really works, at least for me...there was a exterminater at my work and that was his recomendation

[Tracker]

the combat ant bait traps works real good

[Amberbratt]

wow they make tapping noises must be some pretty big ass ants

[swafus]

I'm an entomologist (bug expert) in Florida and I'd like to help.

What you are dealing with is what's referred to as a "swarm". This is a reproductive cycle that certain ants go through during certain times of the year. They are forced into this "swarm" by fluctuations in barometric pressure (usually associated with recent rainfall) and humidity. The purpose for this "swarm" is a secondary means of reproduction (the queen carpenter ant is the primary). Although a swarm sounds slightly sinister, it's actually a good thing. If they are swarming from inside the home, that means they are trying to leave the area (for a variety of reasons?) and start a new colony somewhere else. Swarmers in general only have about an 8% success rate in doing so and usually the swarmers die on there own within 4-48 hours. The reasons for this are mostly exhaustion due to the strain of the massive metabolic change that they undergo when they sprout wings, which have laid dormant within their bodies, and then taking flight. As you have noticed, they aren't exactly adept flyers. It's basically the same thing as if I suddenly sprouted wings out of my back and jumped off a cliff. I've never flown before so I wouldn't be very good at it!
Carpenter ants can nest in any hollow void or any soft substance that can be easily excavated (such as rotting wood, hence their name). I have found them in a shoe box, the base of a tree, underneath hottub covers, Inside wall voids, in mulch beds, playground equipment, in a loofa sponge in a guest bathroom, inside an old bible, etc.
The # 1 thing you should do is make sure that no tree branches are touching or hanging over your roof. They will use this a highway of sorts to gain access to the large void that is your roof. This also allows them to bypass many spray treatments that are applied to the exterior walls.
#2 Carpenter ants are vibration sensitive and extremely skittish. The best way to inspect for them is to knock, kick or even bang on things that you suspect they might be in? If they are there, they will usually come running out in force! If you are lucky enough to find them this easily, any over the counter bug spray will kill them. Bifenthrin, Deltamethrin, and Pyrethrin are all good active ingredients. This is essentially what a good pest control technician would do and anyway.
The 3rd thing you should know is that carpenter ants usually tend to have "sattelite" nests that they will retreat to when threatened. They can be anywhere from 6 ft. to 200 ft. away from the main nest.
and lastly, baits work extremely well on most ants, but "NOT" on Carpenter ants. Carpenter ants will feed on a substance for awhile before taking any of it back to the queen. This usually starts to adversely affect the ant that is feeding and it alerts them that what they are eating is unsafe. They will in turn, not feed this to their queen. There are some baits on the market for them, but they really just don't work.

I hope this helps. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

[Zefram]

Originally Posted by swafus

#2 Carpenter ants are vibration sensitive and extremely skittish.

I guess my neighborhood will never have them. Half the cars on this block have sub-woofers so big the headlights actually dim to the beat of the music from the power draw.