As with any area that has the benefit of a warm summer and rainy spring, South Carolina homes have their fair share of pest intrusions and frustrations. With the high humidity and heat we’ve been experiencing this summer, carpenter ants and many other wood-destroying insects are at the peak of their activity. The first step in evading any pest activity in your home is knowing the factors that may attract them to your home and then removing those factors as soon as you can.
What Attracts Carpenter Ants?
Similar to termites and many other types of summer insect pests, carpenter ants thrive in warm, moist, humid environments. This means that homes with higher-than-average moisture levels might be more at risk than other properties. Something that sets carpenter ants apart from termites, however, is that carpenter ants must seek out a food source when they invade your South Carolina home.
While termites feed solely on the structures they infest, carpenter ants don’t eat the wood they tunnel through. Instead, they must find a different food source, often in the form of garbage, open food items, and improperly stored food products. If your home has easily accessible food sources, carpenter ants are more likely to infest your property.
Where Is Carpenter Ant Damage Usually Found?
Carpenter ants are responsible for quite a bit of structural damage when they invade South Carolina homes, though they take longer to damage properties than termites do. But because of this slower rate of damage, they can infest your home for years without your knowledge until the damage becomes extensive, leading to costly repairs.
Some of the areas you might find carpenter ant damage include:
- Water-damaged or damp wooden parts of your home. Carpenter ants rarely, infest dry wood. They prefer moist, decaying, or already damaged areas of your property.
- Near piles of what appears to be sawdust, which are wood shavings that carpenter ants have pushed out of their nesting galleries and tunnels. These piles may be found next to furniture, baseboards, or walls.
- In exterior walls with thick grass or shrubbery located nearby. Plants are often used as natural gateways into the cracks or gaps in your foundation or exterior walls.
If carpenter ants are damaging your South Carolina home this summer, or if you’d like to prevent them from having the chance to invade, consider Aiken Pest Control for all your summer pest problems. Our highly trained pest control technicians are dedicated to helping you take control of your property with effective and long-lasting residential pest control treatments.