How can we tell termites from carpenter ants?
A brand new house can be ruined by insects in just a few years. First floors and walls begin to sag. The little house wreckers are cutting networks of tunnels in the woodwork and weakening the supports. An expert can stop the damage, but he must know what insect is causing it. If the tiny tunnelers are rot stopped, the whole house may come tumbling down.
Every year, termites and carpenter ants damage thousands of buildings. Both these insects like to build their nests in dead wood. In the wild, they tunnel their rooms and nurseries in logs and fallen trees. They take it for granted that the wood we use to build our homes is also for them, Sometimes they have weakened the supports of a house before we even know they are there.
The network of tiny tunnels in the woodwork could have been made by termites or carpenter ants. But the little house .wreckers look very different from each other. The carpenter ant is shiny black. The soft termite is sluggish white. The ant has a slim waist and a slender neck. The termite looks somewhat like a pale caterpillar with a bulging tummy and six spidery legs.
The ant likes to wander around a building, outside the nest. We may see her scurrying around the kitchen looking for scraps of food. She gives herself away and we can often stop her house wrecking before much damage is done, The pale termite is never seen outside her tunnels, For she is quite blind and hates the light. When she needs to move from one wooden post to the nest, she works with her sisters to build a dark tunnel of spit and wood fiber.
The black carpenter ant is almost half an inch long, which makes her a big ant. If you see her running around the kitchen, you can suspect that house¬ wreckers are busy in the woodwork. Only an expert can tell you whether a crew of termites have started their house wrecking activities.
The ant can leave her nest to find water. The termite must find water in the dark walls and woodwork. Some termites get the moisture they need from wood. Others depend on leaky faucets and damp patches in the walls. These fellows leave a building that is dry. All termites will move away if the woodwork is treated with creosote.
When termites or carpenter ants attack a building, we need the help of an expert. He knows which team of house wreckers is doing the damage, the right chemical to destroy them and how to use it. Sometimes, when termites move out, a crew of carpenter ants will move right in. For this reason, the tunnels in the woodwork must be sealed up tight to save the house from more damage.