Question
I live on the hillside in Bountiful and have small dark red ants in many parts of the house. They are boring through the floors and bathroom cabinets and leaving large piles of sawdust. Obviously I suspect they are carpenter ants and using images on the web I think they are the camponotus herculeanus species. (just a guess though) So how can I be sure? And I'm not sure how to get rid of them or if they can do significant structural damage. I also don't know if I should trust many of the pest control services. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
Answer(s)
Carpenter ants burrow into wood, often water damaged wood, to make tunnels and nests. They don't actually eat wood. Control them by spraying with an ant and roach type insecticide sprayed on surfaces where you see them. You can also use ant traps. Avoid aerosol sprays just sprayed in the air. This is not very effective. If this doesn't work, look in the yellow pages under pest control and get several bids and opinions for control. You can go to: utahpests.usu.edu, for a factsheet on carpenter ants.
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