Five Things You Should Know About Carpenter Ants In McKinney
If you have carpenter ants invading your McKinney home or business, there are five things you should know that can help you understand this pest and how to get rid of carpenter ants for good.
1. How To Identify Carpenter Ants:
It is important to understand how to identify carpenter ants if you want to learn how to stop carpenter ants from running wild in your McKinney home or business. This ant is recognizable as one of the largest ants you may encounter on your property and possesses a shiny black body and powerful jaws.
A significant problem with carpenter ants is that they prefer to tunnel through and create their nests in the internal structures of your home. Over time, this can lead to significant damage and costly repair bills resulting from an infestation.
2. What Attracts Carpenter Ants?
What attracts carpenter ants to your home is vital to understand, as these are the factors you will need to keep in mind when preventing this pest. Like most ants, carpenter ants are attracted to proteins and sugars; leaving out food containing large amounts of these can easily attract ants into your home or business. Carpenter ants are also drawn to dead insects, the honeydew secretion produced by aphids, pools of moisture, and pet foods that may be unprotected.
Reducing or removing these items can help prevent ants from invading your property in the first place.
3. Damage Caused By Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants can cause a significant amount of damage when left alone to tunnel through the areas of your home. This is because they use their strong jaws to hollow out wood, creating nests for their colonies to live in. Over time, this will lead to the internal wooden structures of your property becoming weak or even collapsing in severe cases.
And because of this extensive tunneling, their small size, and their prolific nature, carpenter ants can be tough to get rid of, especially on your own. Most carpenter ant colonies will be settled into the hardest to reach areas of home or business. Traps will only reduce the number of infestations and will not remove the whole thing. Over-the-counter carpenter ant treatment products can be hit or miss.
4. Carpenter Ant Treatment
If you want to reduce your chances of developing a carpenter ant infestation in the first place, you should be ant-proofing your home with the following prevention tips:
- Ensure that all leftover food is stored correctly and that food waste or other trash is disposed of in tightly sealed bags. This will stop the ants from being attracted to the odor and invading.
- Address moisture issues around your property and ensure there is always proper ventilation to prevent any pools of water or damp areas from attracting ants.
- Keep a lookout for carpenter ants infestation signs, such as frass (droppings that look like wood shavings), discarded wings, hollow-sounding walls, or sinking floors. Contact Adam’s Exterminating Company if you see any of these signs.
5. How To Get Rid Of Carpenter Ants
If you want to know the most foolproof method for how to stop carpenter ants, you should be placing a call to the professionals at Adams Exterminating Company. Expert carpenter ant treatment is targeted, effective, and safe, so you can quickly rid your home or business of these pests and prevent any serious property damage before it occurs.