12 replies to this topic

[CORJ]

What are these little guys?  Argentine? Pavement? Small carpenter? They just started coming out of the baseboard but I see nothing outside. There's what looks like small kitty litter (we don't have a cat) near the baseboard. There's also some insect *parts* near where they are.

Just moved into a house on a treed lot. Have seen several carpenter ants - large black ones. Have followed them around, they seem to be just foraging (can't pinpoint entrance or exit). Hoping these aren't very small carpenters.

 

 

I thank you much for any input !

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[dspdrew]

Can we get a location? That's very important when trying to ID ants.

[CORJ]

I live in Quebec, Canada. 

[Ants4fun]

Those look like Tetramorium sp. E. A common name is the pavement ant. They are common in urban and suburban areas. I suppose they could also be some Myrmica sp, but those look like Tetramorium. Those could also be pheidole, but I don't think they are found that far north

Edited by Ants4fun, August 20 2015 - 7:52 AM.

[Crystals]

An exact size in mm would be helpful.

 

Since they have 2 nodes, they are definately not Camponotus (Carpenter ants).

 

My guess is Tetramorium or Myrmica.  I don't believe there are Aphaenogaster in Ontario.  If they are damaging your house, most liquid or gel baits work for them.

[CORJ]

Thank you for your input - They measure about 3-4mm. 

A few hours later and what looks like kitty litter is apparently my wall... I saw one moving a bit of it from the baseboard out and it looks like crumbled concrete. There are also lots of bits of it near the bait puddles. 

I put some borax-based bait but am wondering if that's wise - are they building a nest in my wall? They were definitely not there yesterday.

 

 

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[CORJ]

I also looked outside the house in this area and there is no sign of a trail or anything else.

[Crystals]

That looks like bits of a certain type of drywall.  Is there drywall behind there?

How hard are those little bits?  Are they squishable?  That will tell you it if may be smal pieces of cement, or drywall.

 

They will also bring up any loose bits of debris as they widen their nest.

 

Borax does not work that well on northern ants, as most of our species will not eat dry foods at all.

 

In all honesty, use a sugar water bait, and use a dust buster to vacuum them up.  Dump them outside a long ways from your house. 

Can you take a picture of the outside part of that wall?  Dig through any piles of mulch, etc. and look for any ants.

Or even do a sugar water bait outside and see if any turn up after 15min.

 

I highly suspect a nest outside found a crack/gap in the wall and a few are foraging where it is warmer (and all that lovely sugar water!  )

[Jonathan21700]

Yes, Tetramorium.

[CORJ]

OK - So... The bits are mostly bits of concrete with some (10%?) mushy drywall. I baited the outside and am waiting to see some action. Our house is fieldstone which I'm starting to wonder if it doesn't = field day

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[William. T]

Looks like Tetramorium SpE to me.

[Works4TheGood]

I wouldn't be too worried. Clean up any food/spills that would continue to draw them into the home and then they'll leave shortly after. If you want added protection, you can treat nearby baseboards and even treat the exterior of the home with an ant barrier product from your local store.

[CORJ]

Relief! 

I was so insulted by this little invasion because I'm of the Neat Freak persuasion. I had in fact washed that area on my old knees with some bleachy water the day before - How dare they!!!

 

We have an exterminator coming this afternoon to look at our big boy carpenter situation. I must say its been fascinating watching all this and how persistent they are. Yesterday one of the carpenter's was angled on the baseboard, waiting for the pavement ants to pop out to get some bait and the carpenter was grabbing & eating the little guys. He washed them down with some bait - yay!