Preventive pest control in Fort Worth is the best solution for maintaining a bug free home. If your home is invaded by carpenter ants, and action is delayed or ignored, serious structural damage may occur to your home. When you suspect a carpenter ant infestation, call The Bug Dude for professional pest control in Fort Worth.
Carpenter ants are among the largest species of ant in the U.S., and are extremely active during the spring and summer. They build their nests in moist, decaying, or hollow wood. Carpenter ants do not eat wood, but will cut galleries and interconnecting passageways in wood. They deposit the removed outside of the nest in small piles. Unlike termites, these ants do not line the galleries with mud. Carpenter ants will feed on meat and sweets given the opportunity, and on other insects.
Once they invade a home, you are likely to find them behind bathroom tiles, around sinks, tubs, showers, and dishwashers. While these areas are prone to the moisture carpenter ants prefer, they may invade other areas of the home. They can nest in the hollow space around doors, behind walls, in ceilings, behind siding, and in storage boxes containing wooden items such as picture frames. The damage is often unknown until it is too late.
Due to their large size of up to 13mm, carpenter ants are not hard to spot. If you see them in your home (and often you will not), on porches or decks, and on the lawn, being proactive is the best response. Contact the Bug Dude for eradication of carpenter ants with pest control in Fort Worth.
Carpenter ants build two types of nests, parent colonies, and satellite colonies. Parent colonies consist of the queen, her brood, and worker ants. Satellite colonies consist of workers, older larvae, and pupae. These pests build satellite colonies when the parent colony lacks sufficient space, or when there is an ample supply of food or water to support an increased population. A single parent colony can have multiple satellite colonies. Effective pest control in Fort Worth is the optimal solution for combating carpenter ants.
Pest Control
Controlling carpenter ants on your own can be an ongoing struggle that typically fails to achieve full eradication. Professional pest control in Fort Worth is the most effective means of ridding your home and property of the pest, and the best means of preventing future invasions.
Getting rid of carpenter ants requires finding and destroying their nest, and satellite colonies. When you consider all of the locations they may be in your home, the task is daunting, and rightfully so. Once treatment is complete, take care of the cause of moisture to prevent a recurrence of the infestation. Contact a plumber repair water leaks, provide sealing of tubs and showers, or replacement of leaky tubs, showers, sinks, and toilets.
Carpenter Ant Prevention
In order to prevent damage to your home, early professional pest control in Fort Worth is essential, and is the best carpenter ant prevention measure. Other tips to discourage carpenter ants around the home include:
- Repair roof leaks, leaky chimney flashing, and plumbing leaks. If your home has a flood issue due to runoff after a rain, contact a plumber for a sump pump, French drain, or correction of gutter and downspout problems.
- Trim tree limbs or branches that overhang, or touch the roof. These can act as a bridge to your home. Trim foundation shrubs that touch the walls. There should be at least 12 inches between the plant and wall.
- Seal cracks and openings around the foundation. This includes utility pipes and wires or cables entering from the exterior.
- Stack firewood as far from the home as possible, elevate it off the ground on a non-organic material such as bricks or blocks. Do not store firewood inside the home, or on a porch. Always inspect it before bringing it inside. Carpenter Ants love to nest in firewood.
- The supportive posts of decks should rest on concrete, and not in contact with soil.
- Have dead trees, and stumps that are located near the home removed.
- Do not stack brush piles near the home.
- Cover food and store in containers. If you have little ones dropping food in the home, clean it up and vacuum often.
If you suspect your home has been invaded by carpenter ants, call The Bug Dude at 1-800-310-BUGS (2847). We will treat the infestation with professional pest control in Fort Worth, and restore your peace of mind. With summer fully engaged now, mosquitos and the risk of disease are also all about us. Our professionals can take care of your pest control needs.
