Though excellent soil aerators and decomposers, ants aren’t necessarily a welcome addition to your home. These pesky insects are known to invade in massive numbers, leaving never-ending trails into your pantry, your pet’s food, and anywhere else their scent trails lead!
While small, common pavement ants are bad enough to find roaming your cupboards, several larger species exist in North America—including the big, black ants you’ve noticed lately in your home. But what exactly are these insects? Are they regular ants that have significantly ballooned in size, or something else entirely?
In the following article, we’ll uncover the answers to all of these questions and more, including what big black ants actually are, why they’re in your New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or New York home, and whether you should be concerned.
What Are Big Black Ants Called?
Those big black ants that roam around your home are likely Camponotus Pennsylvanicus—also known as the black carpenter ant. This common (and massive) species of ant is among the largest in North America, with workers reaching 12 mm in length and queens reaching a staggering 20 mm!
Why Are Big Black Ants in My House?
There are several reasons that one may find black carpenter ants in your house, the least troublesome of which is that they’re just exploring. If you’ve only found a few wingless stragglers crawling around your home, they’ve likely crawled through a door or window in search of food and other resources.
However, if you’re finding black carpenter ants in large numbers, you may have a larger issue on your hands. Carpenter ants, like termites, nest in wooden structures. These burrows and tunnel systems can significantly weaken the structural integrity of your home, leading to costly treatments and extensive repairs. While the cost of termite treatment and damage may be more than carpenter ants, they can be expensive nonetheless.
The third possibility is that you’re seeing swarmers; however, this is only the case if the carpenter ants have wings. Swarmers leave mature colonies from spring/summer in search of new nesting areas nearby, meaning two things: there’s a mature nest that’s concerningly close to your home, and they’re scouting your property to build up a new colony.
Does Killing Ants Attract More?
While we’d like to say this is a fallacy, unfortunately, it’s true; killing ants will almost certainly attract additional workers to the scene. Ants rely heavily on pheromone marking to communicate, alerting other members of the colony of danger, food sources, and more. When ants are killed, they release oleic acid, a compound known as a “death pheromone.” This alerts surrounding ants of the death of their fellow worker(s), who will, in turn, scout the area or retrieve the deceased insects.
How to Prevent Big Black Ants
Since black carpenter ants can pose such a large problem to homeowners, it’s important to know the various ways to prevent and eliminate these pesky arthropods. If you’re struggling to get rid of carpenter ants, try out these tips and tricks to keep them out of your home!
Set Out Bait Traps
Bait traps are a homeowner’s greatest weapon against carpenters and other species of ants. Black carpenter ants are foragers, meaning they’ll scavenge for food sources nearly anywhere they can be found; however, like other ant species, they prefer sweets like aphid honeydew, sugar, honey, etc.
Bait traps capitalize on an ant’s taste for sugar, utilizing a sweet, syrupy bait laden with insecticides. As ants collect the bait, they’ll bring it back to the colony to share with other ants, including the queen. Once consumed, most baits take approximately 24–48 hours to induce death, giving the insecticides plenty of time to affect multiple colony members.
Eliminate Food and Water Sources
If you’re continually finding black carpenter ants in your pantry, cupboards, or fruit bowl, it’s best to eliminate all accessible food and water sources. Now, that doesn’t mean throwing all of your food away, but rather, sealing it in airtight containers to prevent contamination.
Regarding water, it’s best to fix those leaky pipes and faucets. Ants require a large amount of water compared to their body size and weight, and your leaky sink is a great place to get it.
Eliminate Standing Water
As mentioned previously, ants require loads of water throughout the day. Standing water in your yard, under the foundation from leaking pipes, or even in the kitchen is an excellent source for drinking, especially if there’s food nearby.
Additionally, standing water can soften and decay stumps and nearby wooden structures, which carpenter ants prefer over dense wood to build their nests into.
Seal Gaps and Entrances
While this doesn’t necessarily apply to an active infestation in your home, sealing gaps in siding, windows, and doors can help to prevent arthropod exploration crews from gaining access to your home, whether they’re swarmers or standard workers.
Foam sealant and latex caulking are excellent options, but be sure to purchase the appropriate products for indoor/outdoor use.
Barrier Treatments
As far as preventative pest control goes, there’s no better tactic than barrier treatments, whether chemical or physical. Barriers help to ensure carpenter ants won’t gain access to your home in the first place by making the area far less hospitable.
While DIY barrier treatments are available, it’s always best to contact a pest professional when using potentially toxic chemicals. For more information regarding barrier treatments, including our comprehensive Pest Protect 365 plan, contact your qualified local pest control experts at Anchor Pest Control.
Big Black Ants FAQ
What Are Big Black Ants?
Big black ants are likely black carpenter ants, one of the largest ant species in North America. These voracious and destructive insects are known to burrow into homes, decayed wood, and other wooden structures to build nests.
Does Killing Ants Attract More Ants?
Yes, killing ants causes their bodies to release oleic acid, known as a “death pheromone.” This chemical alerts other ants of danger, leading them to inspect the area.
How Long Do Bait Traps Take to Kill Ants?
The bait within common bait traps is specially formulated for a slow release, allowing the ants plenty of time to return to the nest and spread the bait to other colony members, even the queen. Within 24–48 hours, affected ants will begin to die off.