Carpenter Ants

Carpenter Ants are active in our area pretty much year-round. The females will not eat the wood, but instead they will simply use their mouth parts to excavate galleys in wood that has been compromised by moisture.

They do not attack good, intact, sound wood. They go after moisture compromised wood. They usually come from an old tree stump or an old root system that is buried deep in the ground. You may never see them, but they can travel well over a mile to get to where they want to go. We have actually had to trail them over a mile to find out where the source is. They are bigger than fire ants or termites and are usually black. They can sometimes be brown.

They do have a powerful bite and a powerful sting, so they can hurt.