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Carpenter Ant
(John Obermeyer, Purdue University)
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Common Name: Carpenter Ant

Order: Hymenoptera

Family: Formicidae


Pest Status: Carpenter ants have a much bigger reputation as a pest than they deserve. They can damage a home only when they hollow out nests areas inside key wooden structural areas. They most often nest out-of-doors where they are beneficial insects.

Appearance: Carpenter ants range in size from 1/4 to 3/4-inch, depending on whether the insect is a queen or a worker. Workers are brown, have large heads and small thoraxes.

Life Cycle: The queen establishes a nesting site in a wood cavity. The queen rears her first brood of workers, feeding them salivary secretions. The workers then gather food to feed more generations of larvae.

Where to Collect: Carpenter ants nest in moist wood, including rotting trees, tree roots, tree stumps, and logs or boards lying on or buried in the ground.

Purdue Extension Entomology, 901 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA, (765) 494-4554

Department of Entomology | College of Agriculture | Extension

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