Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are fairly large ants, sometimes reaching sizes of up to an inch in length.
In nature, carpenter ants usually nest outside in hollow, wooden void areas such as hollow trees, abandoned termite galleries, and fallen timber. They can also nest in man-made items such as fence posts, telephone poles, electrical conduit, and scattered debris. When they infest buildings, they tend to live in structural voids such as soffits, cinder blocks, wall voids, crawl spaces, and door frames. In general, they tend to prefer wood that has already been damaged by moisture.
Carpenter Ant Damage
Carpenter ants can cause significant damage when they excavate galleries in wood. Carpenter ants don't actually eat wood. They use their powerful mandibles to carve out galleries in which to lay eggs and raise their young. The smooth galleries are one way that professional exterminators can tell the difference between carpenter ant damage, and that caused by other wood-destroying insects.
If a carpenter ant infestation is allowed to go untreated, severe damage can occur to the building's wooden structure. This photo shows damage that a long-standing carpenter ant infestation caused to the sill plate and bandboard of a house. This not-uncommon situation often results in repair bills in the hundreds or thousands of dollars -- an expense that can be prevented by regular inspections for -- and early treatment of --carpenter ants and other wood-destroying insect infestations.