Carpenter
ants are important in the balance of nature because they burrow
and nest in dead trees and help in the decay of wood. However,
they become pests when a colony invades and damages the integrity
of the wood within a house. Carpenter ants become pests when they
start foraging in the houses for food. They may also cause serious
damage to wood in the structure. Unlike termites, they do not
feed upon wood, but merely use it as a place to nest. Generally they are jet black, but there may be varieties that are reddish
in color. They are one of the largest of ants in the world (between
one-eighth to one-half inch in length). In a colony there are
major" and "minor" workers as well as the "queen," which is the
reproductive member. These "castes" differ in size and appearance.
These ants prefer to infest wood that is damp
and rotting because the wood is be soft enough to allow carpenter
ants to hollow it out and produce a colony. Carpenter ants may
move from decaying portions of the wood into good wood when they
want to enlarge their nests . They cut tunnels with the grain
following the softer parts of the wood. The ants leave the harder
parts of the wood as walls separating the tunnels and create openings
in these walls to allow access between tunnels. Access to the
outside may be through natural openings, or the ants may cut openings.
Carpenter ants take pride in their houses, keeping occupied areas
clean by transferring "rubbish" accumulated to the outside
regularly.
Carpenter Ants are omnivorous an have a varied
diet. They consume everything varying from dead insects to
honeydew
from aphids. However, they do not consume wood. Workers leave
the colony in late afternoon or early evening and forage during
the night, returning to the colony only in the wee hours They carry
food back to the nest intact or ingested and later feed it to
non-foraging members in the nest.
Under the best conditions it takes about 3
months for an ant to be hatched and reach maturity. In colder
weather this may take as long as 10 months. The first few workers
to emerge from the first brood of pupae are small and they assume
the duties of the colony. Their tasks include opening the chamber
to the outside, collecting food, excavating galleries to enlarge
the nest, and tending the eggs, larvae, and pupae of the second
generation. Workers regurgitate food to nourish the developing
larvae. The queen only lays eggs. During the first year the colony
contains the queen, 10 to 20 small workers, and ants in various
stages of development. If conditions are favorable, the size of
the colony increases rapidly in the next few years. The colony
is considered mature when winged reproductive are formed. This
occurs in three to six years when the colony contains 10,000 to
12,000 individuals or more. It is unlikely that numbers will increase
thereafter, due to the constant drain of the many warmers produced
each year. Winged males and females usually develop in late summer.
After wintering in the nest, they swarm in the spring or early
summer.
Reference: article
by Jack Hudson
