Flying Carpenter Ants: Why Are They In Your Kitchener Home

As a Kitchener homeowner, few sights are as distressing as a cloud of flying carpenter ants around your property. These insects, which you may mistake for termites, can cause considerable damage to the wood structures around your home. Here at Truly Nolen Pest Control, we offer carpenter ant pest control in Kitchener, along with some information about these insects, their life cycle and behaviour.

What Are Flying Ants?

Flying carpenter ants gain their wings when they reach maturity and leave the nest to find mates and begin a new colony. Both males and females grow wings. You can identify these ants in several ways, including:

• Uneven wing length
• A narrow waist
• A reddish-brown body colour

Flying ants may enter your home and choose to set up a colony anywhere they can find soft or moist wood. While our experienced pest control technicians know how to get rid of carpenter ants, they usually begin their inspection by identifying the signs of an infestation.

Signs of a Carpenter Ant Invasion

As their name indicates, carpenter ants use rotting or moist wood to build smooth tunnels all around the structure. They do not eat the wood they burrow into but use it to create a colony instead. Carpenter ants might also target wooden porch beams, walls, wooden wall trim and even wooden furniture. When you call us for carpenter ant pest control in Kitchener, our technicians begin their search by following the tunnels to discover the main nest, where the ants breed and raise larvae. Carpenter ants lose their wings once they mate and establish a colony, and the damage they cause, once they settle in, is usually not easy to see. Since these insects may spend generations making themselves at home, learning how to prevent a repeat infestation can help you defend your home after our techs treat the problem.

Preventing a Carpenter Ant Infestation

You can prevent any future carpenter ant issues in several ways, which safeguard your home's wooden structures and building materials between regular seasonal pest control appointments with us. Focus on wooden items, such as porch flooring, and seal small cracks and holes where ants might make their way in. Use water or rain sealant on outdoor wooden items to protect them from moisture damage that might attract carpenter ants. You can also protect your home by storing firewood in a way that does not allow carpenter ants access. Cover stacks with protective vinyl tarps and use bricks or concrete blocks to elevate the stack. Avoid using wooden pallets, which can provide carpenter ants with a treasure trove of moist wood once it rains.

The Benefits of Carpenter Ant Pest Control in Kitchener

If you have carpenter ant problems for the first time, you might wonder, "Is there carpenter ant control near me that can identify these insects so I can choose the proper kind of treatment?" At Truly Nolen, our pest technicians' training allows them to efficiently identify carpenter ants and explain how their habits differ from other species, such as termites. This is one advantage of a customized carpenter ant control treatment. Calling in our technicians can also help prevent problems that do-it-yourself methods may cause, such as using more than one type of chemical at once to control carpenter ants. This might create dangerous fumes and endanger anyone nearby. Truly Nolen treats carpenter ant problems in a variety of ways that will not harm your family, including pets.

Contact Us for Carpenter Ant Pest Control In Kitchener

Winged carpenter ants take flight during warmer weather to find mates and establish new colonies all over Kitchener, including your property. Truly Nolen can help, so schedule an inspection today for further information and assistance with carpenter ant pest control in Kitchener.