Big Black Ants

[irvingdog]

They're in my house. They are fast, and erratic. Don't seem to hone in on a particular food.

What are they, and more importantly, how the heck do I kill them?

[bigdog]

I think that would be a carpenter ant. Anyway, I get them in my place occasionally. Pick up some Terro ant killer, should have at a grocery, garden or farm store. Put a bit on a piece of paper and place it near where you see them. Don't let your pets get into it though.

[IFallsRon]

I get them in my sun porch in the spring when they have wings. I've drilled small holes in the woodwork where I think they come in and used the Terro spray with the tube attachment. Try to find on the foundation where they come in and spray that area, too.

Look around your property for where they live. I've found them in the cement cracks in the back driveway and under the shed foundation. I hose them out in the spring and sprinkle a dry ant chemical that's they're sposed to take back down the nests.

[john.wells]

If they are in your house, they are in your woodwork destroying it!!! Yes, they are carpenter ants. I deal with them all the time. The best thing you can do is find out where they have taken residence if possible (usually between your sheetrock and the outside wall), and get rid of the colony with chemicals designed to kill carpenter ants SPECIFICALLY. They don't eat the wood that they are destroying, they burrow it for a home. Next, spray a long lasting pesticide around your whole foundation. Make sure that you do this next year BEFORE you have a problem. You might want to call a professional in if they are numerous. I did the first time I had a problem. Glad I did, as I just had a couple roaming around, but the colony the exterminator found was disgustingly huge. Good luck.

[The Grebe]

Yup, Carpenter Ants and they are destructive! I found a colony trying to hide in the corner of one of my sheds one time, I believe it was a colony on the move, because by the time I went to menards and got some ant poison and came back, they where gone.

Eventually we developed an ant problem and every now and then, one would show up inside the house...I did a little research and found out that if you find one here and there, a whole colony isn't to far away.

Okay, here is some of the things I found out....go out at night after dark with a flashlight and look around the foundation of the house..you may have to do this several times, but you can spot where the ants are comming and going from the dwelling by following them, thats what was reccommended to me and thats what I did...they are more nocturnal in their movement. This will give you a starting point for your eradication campaign.

Trim all branches and limbs away from the house...these are like highways for the ants and if you look around on the trees after dark, you can usually spot them moving up and down the trunk.

Clear up any moisture problems, those things like moisture, plugged drain troughs that allow your eave area to retain moisture, old wood piles, lumber, plywood sheets, anything that will allow dampness and afford a hiding place.

When you find them, at first, try to go with an insecticide that you can use away from the entry point, on trees, fence rails, foundations, etc. not to far, close enough so that they bring the poison into the colony quarters when they enter, that way I believe it is spread to the larvae and nest juveniles. If you put it right at the entry point, they may get scared off and create another in a different spot.

Hit em with a spray and a granule, double up on them and stay with the program. Try to apply in the early evening so as whatever you use has less tendency to dry out and not be picked up as readily by the nocturnal ants.

Even after you think they are gone, continue the program for a while to make sure. Look over other areas of your property as well, as I'm not so sure the ants get totally eradicated, I think that after they take a number of casualties in a certain nest and it isn't conducive to raising the young, they just move to a different area and start over? Kinda like the colony that I found in my shed. If you get on the run, keep em on the run!

The University Of Minnesota extention service can give you rock solid information on the ants and what to do about them.

[fishing tech]

Perfect post. They like older trees and will destroy them from the inside out. Eleminate the over hanging branches so they have no where to go but down. insectiside the area around the tree and your house. Good luck