Last updated: January 2016 Site Created by: Andre Chagljevich
Carpenter Ant is a native species to the Toronto area; they are the most common wood-infesting pests in the GTA, much more common than termites. Carpenter ants are the largest of all ant species, ranging from 1/8 to ½ inch long, with slightly larger sized queens. Carpenter ants are typically black in color but some species can be found in red and black, solid red, or brown.
Carpenter ants are social insects containing 3 distinct casts: workers, queens and males. Workers are female, never with wings, and live as long as 7 years. Workers do all the work in the colony, which includes gathering food, caring for young, and enlargement of the nest. Queens, who are the largest ants in the colony, function to establish new colonies and lay eggs. Once a colony is 4 years old it is considered to be mature and reproductive ants with wings will be produced. The fertilized queens will then establish a new colony and are able to produce eggs for their lifetime, which may be up to 15 years. Once established, an average colony contains 2,000 to 3,000 carpenter ants.
Outdoors, carpenter ants nest in any wood that is in close contact to a moisture source, for example, stumps, landscape ties and wooden fence posts. In buildings, they often make their nests in hollow doors, in wood cabinets near dishwashers, in damp locations behind baseboards, fireplaces, window frames, and in basements and attics. Carpenter ants usually limit the size of the colony to the area of the damp wood. Several so-called satellite colonies may, however, be constructed in the same structure.
It is recommended that any decaying or piles of wood should be
removed from the property. Both the detection and elimination of
carpenter ants can be a difficult and lengthy process.
Pavement ants get their name from commonly locating their nest in or under cracks in pavement, patio stones, concrete, and other rock formations. Pavement ants were introduced from Europe by early colonists. They are commonly found in and around the homes and businesses in Toronto and the GTA. Pavement ants are 1/16- 1/8-inches long and have lighter colored legs with a dark body covered in stiff hairs. They are light brown to black in color.
The developmental time (from egg to adult) is 36 to 63 days. Located indoors, the swarmers can emerge anytime. They emerge outdoors in June and July.
Pavement ants nest outdoors under flat stones, sidewalks, concrete slabs, along curbing, etc. They invade structures in search of food and are a particular problem in areas where slab-on-concrete construction is prevalent. When inside structures, they nest in walls, insulation, floors, and find their way to heat sources during the winter.
Pavement ants are attracted to feeding on sweets. Sugary
and protein-based baits are the best ways of ridding your
home/building of them. Baits should be placed where ant trails
have been established, and in locations where the ants have
been sited. When nest cannot be located, a barrier spray treatment
should be applied to foundations and the soil immediately
adjacent to the building. This is effective in repelling
foraging workers, as well as preventing them from re-entering
the structure.
Pharaoh ants live in minute multi-colonies and are very difficult to eradicate. Pharaoh ants are 1.5 mm in length and are yellow or light brown to red in color. Their small size makes them difficult to see with visual inspection. The Pharaoh ants color varies from golden yellow to reddish.
Females mate and procreate in the nest, and new colonies are formed by "budding." Budding means that part of the main colony moves to a new location, and there can be up to hundreds of thousands of ants in one colony.
Pharaoh ants nest in a wide variety of locations within a structure, and are very difficult to control and locate. However, it is useful to look near sources of water and food. They typically nest in warm, hard to reach areas such as walls, splash boards of kitchen counter tops and in wall sockets.
Pharaoh ants must be treated by using protein and sugar baits
placed as close as possible to the nest areas. It is very
important not to use any insecticide sprays or dusts as this
will stress the colony – causing it to split and spread, and
aggravating the problem.