Is My Infestation Carpenter Ants Or Termites?

Author: Michele Walls

Carpenter ants and termites are often confused with one another as they are generally hard to distinguish from each other whilst in flight. It would be prudent to take some time to study what subtle differences you can see to distinguish the two species if you are attempting to deal with an infestation. Only the correct method of treatment will work on either species, it would be a waste of time and money to treat the wrong kind of infestation.

If you are unable to take a closer look at the bugs infesting you house try to see if you can distinguish the wing shape. Termites have even sized wings were as Carpenter ants have rear wings that are slightly shorter than the forward ones. Termites also have less stable wings that can be broken off with the lightest touch, because of this you will often fin loose wings lying on the ground where termite swarms have crawled around and had them knocked off by each other. Another quick fire method for identification is to look at the antenna. While termites have a distinctly straight antenna the Carpenter ants have an elbow in theirs about halfway down.

If you are already suffering an infestation in your home and need to identify the culprit there are a few simple tips you can follow to help. If you find sawdust raining down from your ceilings you can be pretty sure you have Carpenter ants infesting your home. If you suddenly find you have sawdust raining down from the ceiling that could also be a good sign.

Carpenter ants are renowned for preferring rotting wood so places that have accumulated a lot of moisture like an area where a pipe has burst recently would also stand a good chance of housing a colony. Whereas the ant will use wood to build nests, termites us it as a food source so often have their nests in the ground and build small mud tunnels between that and their chosen source of food. If you suddenly find that small holes are appearing in your wood but suddenly they are filled by mud, this is a good sign of termite infestation.

Carpenter ants and Termites are both common pests in a lot of households and with a good inspection and early detection can be removed early on before structural damage becomes too severe. For more advice contact your local pest control company.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/bath-showers-articles/is-my-infestation-carpenter-ants-or-termites-3580268.html

About the Author
Stewart Wrighter recently studied cost effective methods of dealing with carpenter ants and searched for organic carpenter ant treatments to solve his problem. He discovered many remedies available to manage the pest control issue.