Are carpenter ants really dangerous?
As some of you know, I have a decent sized carpenter ant (Camponotus modoc) colony in the backyard of my house. Someday I’ll probably have to get rid of it when we want to sell the place, but for now it has provided some interesting photographs.
Over the weekend I found them active as usual once I picked up a few pieces of wood. Under one piece I found some that were quite large - probably among the largest ones I have seen. This got me to thinking, how dangerous are these guys (or in truth - ‘gals’) really?
Although they are greatly feared by Western homeowners, this colony has lived in my backyard for at least the last seven years and I have never seen a trace of them in my home. After reading a bit about them, I even went outside late at night a few times to see if I could find any activity. As they are nocturnal, that is the best time to see what they are up to.
There are a number of precautions that you can take to minimize the possibility of damage.
- There are several chemicals that you can spray around the perimeter of your home. As ants go on scents, there is a good deal of evidence that they can be effective.
- Make sure no plants touch your house. This is the easiest way for them to get access to your home.
Supposedly these ants can bite, though I have not put my finger out to test this out. They certainly look the part, but for the most part are quite docile. I have sat down with them crawling around me and have never once been bitten.
It will be a sad day when I eventually have to get rid of the colony, as though I certainly don’t mind them someone else will likely differ.
Related posts:
- Book Review - Carpenter Ants of the United States and Canada OK, I have to admit that this book is not for everyone. Who should read this book? Hmmm… Well, if you’re not interested in carpenter ants, you can skip this review. I happen to find carpenter ants quite interesting and one species of them - Camponotus Modoc, is very common...
- Sometimes mistakes have interesting effects This weekend we finally had summer! Well, at least we had one day of it. By Sunday things were chilly again and the weather forecast says it may snow later in the week. Still, it was nice getting out and photographing things and a number of insects, such as ants,...
- What are these ants doing? While taking pictures last week, I came across several ants traveling along the stem of a bush. I tried to get a good shot of one crawling along the thin limbs, but I just couldn’t get a good shot. After some time, I became curious about what they were doing. ...
- Lots and lots of ants I’m sure all of us have walked by a dropped fruit on the ground and have seen a pile of ants warming around it. I have seen this countless times, but never when I happened to have my camera and MP-E 65 on me. Several days ago, I was lucky....
- The release of the queens Several weekends ago, my wife asked me to weed in our backyard. I obliged, but on my way to get some equipment, I noticed something very unusual in the backyard. The carpenter ant colony was releasing their queens and males. First, I am not a myrmecologist and my knowledge of...
Tags: carpenter ant, danger, housing, macro, photography
You got some interesting pictures here and really weird points of a sad day when removing them. Funny though, your house is also not affected.
Just wondering if you allow me to reproduce your article over at my blog. Of course, I will credit back you.
Michael.