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UC
IPM Home > Antkey > Carpenter
Ant > Management
Tips
How to Manage Pests
Key to Identifying Common Household Ants
Carpenter antQuick management tips
Overall strategy
Eliminate conditions such as moist wood and old stumps that
provide good nesting sites. Search for nests and remove or
treat them. Use baits to manage satellite colonies. Spraying
foraging ants will not solve the problem. |
Prevention
- Caulk cracks and crevices around the exterior of the
home that provide entry.
- Trim branches and limbs of trees and shrubs that touch
the building to keep ants from gaining access via these
routes.
- Eliminate damp conditions that promote wood decay such
as water leaks and poor drainage problems around foundations.
- Replace decayed or damaged wood and correct problems
that caused the decay, such as clogged rain gutters or
leaky roofs.
- Increase ventilation to damp areas beneath buildings
and in attics.
- Store firewood up off the ground and several feet away
from buildings to discourage carpenter ant colonies.
Locate nests
- Observe ant activity at night.
- Follow trails.
- Sawdust accumulations with pieces of dead ants are good
indicators.
- Main nests are often outside in old tree stumps, fence
posts, or firewood piles.
- Satellite colonies may nest indoors on moist wood.
Nest treatments
- Use baits to manage satellite
colonies that you cannot find.
- Remove and destroy stumps and old wood with colonies
in them to the extent possible.
- Where nests cannot be removed, treat with a desiccant
dust (silica gel or diatomaceous earth) labeled for this
purpose. Use a bulb applicator and insert the tube snugly
into nest openings.
- Desiccant dusts have the advantage of being low in toxicity
and are effective as long as they do not get wet.
- Fix leaky pipes and roofs to be sure no moisture can
reach treated nest sites.
- Nests can also be treated with insecticides including
permethrin, cyfluthrin, boric acid, or disodium octaborate
tetrahydrate. Use a dust formulation labeled for this purpose.
Apply dusts through colony openings and drilled holes.
For extensive infestations, consider hiring a professional.
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