Introduction
Whether you find them fascinating or repulsive, carpenter ants are an interesting species. The carpenter ant is a hazard to timber frame buildings and has been identified as a “one to watch” in Metro Vancouver. It’s possible that you’ve had a bad experience with them before, or that you’ve heard a story about someone whose house required extensive repairs because these cunning insects had chewed through the support beams. Regardless, today we’ll provide some interesting Facts About Carpenter Ants.
Fun Fact #1
In Northern America, Carpenter Ants Are The Biggest In Size
Some species have been measured as long as 1 inch in length, while the average is between 1/2 and 5/8 of an inch. The Queen is up to an inch taller than the average ant. They can bite and chew through tough materials like wood because of their strong mandibles.
Fun Fact #2
Carpenter Do Not Literally Eat Wood
Carpenter ants, unlike termites, can’t digest cellulose, thus they don’t eat wood. Instead, they eat things like dead insects, aphid honeydew, plant secretions, and even decaying fruit. The residue left behind after carpenter ants eat through wood is called “frass” and resembles sawdust. Carpenter ants use these tunnels chiseled out of timber framing to construct their colonies.
Fun Fact #3
The Average Life Of A Queen Ant Is Of 25 Years
That makes her one of the world’s longest-living insects! Queen carpenter ants have a very long lifespan for insects. A single queen can reach the age of 25! The queen ant, the largest member of the colony, is the parent of all the other ants. Until the workers are mature enough to seek food and tend the nest, she feeds them with her salivary glands.
Fun Fact #4
Scale Wise They Are Tougher Than A Body Builder
Carpenter ants are widely regarded as among the world’s fiercest insects. The weight that these ants can carry is up to fifty times their own weight. Carpenter ants are powerful because of their large muscles and well-designed bodies. Their exoskeletons are constructed of a robust, stiff substance, and their muscles are larger and more powerful than those of most other insects, allowing them to create more force.
Fun Fact #5
Carpenter Ants Are A Delicious Meal For Many
They are a key part of the diet of bears, as well as being a primary source of nutrition for many species of birds and ants. Bears mostly eat ants and ant larvae from around the middle of June to about the middle or end of July, when berries become ready. They investigate decaying logs and rocks seeking ant colonies. Late in the summer, when fresh plants are sparse and berries are unavailable, grizzly bears in the Prince George’s area will eat ants.
Fun Fact #6
They Fly During The Mating Season
Ants in the air. They must be familiar to you. The swarm itself happens really quickly. Sometime in the early summer, on this unique day (flying ant day), we will be treated to the spectacle of a swarm of impassioned flying ants departing the nest. The reproductive winged ants, both male, and female, fly out into the sky to mate. The male ants that swarm soon afterward have completed their life’s purpose. The men collapse to the floor, where they perish. The female swarmers, on the other hand, have just begun their new lives. In pursuit of a new home for their colony, they shed their wings and set out on a perilous overland journey. The ‘wedding flight’ is the epic name for this event.
Fun Fact #7
Carpenter Ants Build Huge Colonies
It takes three to six years for a nest to reach maturity, but once it does, it can house as many as one hundred thousand birds in its parent and satellite colonies. In that period, a single queen carpenter ant will produce 70,000 fertilized eggs. In order for the queen’s eggs to hatch, the nest’s parents must ensure that adequate moisture is present. Multiple satellite nests can be established from a single-parent nest. Since satellite nests do not house eggs, they do not need to be kept damp. This allows a colony of carpenter ants to have several satellite nests inside a single home.
Conclusion
Our goal was to provide you with some useful information regarding carpenter ants. One of the most anticipated pests of the spring. Carpenter ants problems can be solved with the help of a specialist who can be reached via phone or online chat. To determine the full scope of the problem and the best course of action, we always begin with an inspection. For professional assistance with controlling carpenter ants please call, or chat with a pest expert.
