Do Carpenter Ants Go Dormant in The Winter?
The carpenter ant is considered among the most industrious kinds of ants. However, as much as people admire this characteristic, these pests are never welcome inside the house. Whether if it is cold or not, the sight of ants indoors should never be welcomed by homeowners.
Most people assume that most pests hibernate during the cold weather. However, this idea is wrong. Homeowners should not be complacent when the temperatures drop thinking that the pests will die anyway as this is not the case for most kinds of pests.
Do Carpenter Ants Go Dormant in The Winter or They Continue Being Active?
The main reason why you should worry about these ants coming inside your house and causing damage is mainly because of the warm temperature inside your house. Since you keep your house heated during the winter months, they will most likely find your home a suitable place to stay during the cold months.
They Go Dormant in Cold Weather but Can Still Stay Active During the Winter
The chance that these carpenter ants stay active during the cold months in your house is still high especially if they find a convenient place to forage. If they can find a convenient space in your home before the winter starts, you will probably have to deal with seeing these ants around your home.
They will continuously forage in the comfort of your home and bring back bits and pieces of your stored food to their nest. Expect these pests to continue their activities throughout the winter.
You may not have to worry about structural damage, but their presence and their continuous rummage in your pantry or storage area are sure to be a big problem. Therefore, you should act right away or call for pest control to help you deal with the infestation.
Do Carpenter Ants Die in The Cold Season?
It is given that summer and spring are prime times for most types of ants. This is usually the warm time of the year when they will start roaming both indoor and outdoor.
However, it is a different case when it comes to carpenter ants. They can become serious pests and may remain active throughout the year. This means that they can do damage to your home may it be winter, spring, summer, or fall.
How Do They Survive the Cold Season?
These insects have the ability to enter a low-energy state of diapause, which allows them to remain alive even at the lowest temperature. If they can create their galleries in a moist and warm area like inside walls or establish their colonies inside rotting wood, they can survive the cold temperature.
They can stay alive outside if they are able to find any decaying root system that can act like insulation for their entire colony. As long as you can address the infestation quickly, you can prevent the infestation from getting bigger that may cause more serious damage.
Should You Be Worried of These Ants During the Cold Months
If they are inside your home or noticed a single carpenter ant or more, then you should be worried as there may be an infestation going on. There is a great chance that these ants have already built their colony inside your home. The worst thing that may happen is not knowing that there are already colonies in areas that are hard to locate.
The colonies may stay dormant when the temperatures drop, but this does not necessarily mean that they are dead. It still depends on the temperature that their nesting area.
If their nesting area is warm, you should expect that they will skip their hibernation phase. This is why you have probably seen carpenter ants in winter. Dormant colonies may also revive once you start using the fireplace or furnace.
Is a Single Carpenter Ant a Sign of an Infestation?
Given that many ants species are sharing the same dark red and black colour as carpenter ants, you may get confused in identifying them from other species. These ants are around 3/8” to as long as 5/8”.
Unlike house ants that will find convenient corners under storage, inside the wall or boxes inside your home as their new habitat, carpenter ants use the wood in the house to build their nests. Carpenter ants may cause damage to your home when these pests are left untreated.
They do not necessarily eat the wood, but they make holes in it for them to build their nests or galleries in. An identifying mark that you have an infestation is piles of frass or wood shavings. These are the shavings that they leave around their kick-out holes.
What Attracts Them Inside Your Home?
They strongly like fats, sugars, and proteins. Any food spills can also attract these ants inside your home. At times, these ants can also hitch a ride on firewood that you bring indoors. If you notice a carpenter ant during winter or fall, there is possibly a nest hidden in your home.
This type of pest is also attracted to areas with moisture. These insects are attracted to areas where condensation collects like around the doorways, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, roof vents, drains, and pipes. Wherever they can find food to eat and have a comfortable place to nest, expect them to be hiding in these areas.
If you suspect an infestation of carpenter ants, you must act and call for pest control. Just like how you would act with any bug infestation, you want to get rid of the bug or any insects that are also residing in your home.
They strongly like fats, sugars, and proteins. Any food spills can also attract these ants inside your home. At times, these ants can also hitch a ride on firewood that you bring indoors. If you notice a carpenter ant during winter or fall, there is possibly a nest hidden in your home.
This type of pest is also attracted to areas with moisture. These insects are attracted to areas where condensation collects like around the doorways, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, roof vents, drains, and pipes. Wherever they can find food to eat and have a comfortable place to nest, expect them to be hiding in these areas.
If you suspect an infestation of carpenter ants, you must act and call for pest control. Just like how you would act with any bug infestation, you want to get rid of the bug or any insects that are also residing in your home.
How to Keep Your Home Free from Carpenter Ants in the Winter
When dealing with a carpenter ant infestation, disposing of all visible ants is not enough. You need to know where their nests are both the primary and satellite and have these removed.
Always remember that carpenter ant infestations will continue, and worker ants will continue to spawn and tunnel unless you get rid of the queen. This is the only way to control the infestation and lessen the possible damage to your home.
You should also know the right treatment that will effectively kill the ants along with the queen. It is either you use pest control products designed to kill ants or call a specialist if the infestation is worse than you expected.
See below for products we recommend to control ants: