Ants often move inside looking for better conditions food moisture shelter favorable temperatures and permanent residence. Ant activity indoors generally may actually decrease in winter but observing ants swarmers or foragers during the cold weather months may indicate that an ant colony exists somewhere inside the home.
Why Seeing Ants In Your Home In Winter Could Mean Serious Problems
Carpenter ants leave signs.
Large black ants in winter. They move deeper into the soil or wood for warmth and become relatively inactive waiting for warmer weather. What it means if you see ants in the winter. But during the winter months ants seem to disappear.
Once the temperatures drop again they will go back into hibernation. It isn t surprising to see ants in the summer. First the regular presence of large black ants indoors on floors and walls is an early warning sign.
You re not likely to see a superhighway of tiny little ants along the edge of the border between your kitchen and your living room or find your kitchen trash can covered with them when the weather outside is cold. In our colder northeast winters outdoor ants hunker down. If you see ants outdoors in the winter it s likely there s been a warm spell that tricked them into coming out to seek food.
These ants pose no threat when they are outdoors however when they make their way into your house getting rid of them is crucial. This can create structural problems and hard to get at home repairs. However ants that are lucky enough to be nesting in a warm sheltered place in a building or crawlspace can become somewhat active on warmer winter days.
If you are seeing ants inside your home in the winter it likely means that they ve formed a colony inside somewhere. Another occasional home visitor in this size range is the field ant. By large i mean 3 8 to inch.
They are likely to be found in places where water leaks have moistened. If you have active carpenter ants they can continue to damage your home all winter long. These two large ants are easily distinguished by the shape of their thorax the body segment just behind the head.
Moreover the big black ants found in spring or winter need to be dealt with immediately because they can damage the house. They can appear in many locations both inside and outside of your home. Carpenter ants nest in almost any wood but prefer wood that is moist.
Also called carpenter ants these ants destroy furniture and foundational wooden boards. Carpenter ants don t die in winter but colonies may remain dormant when temperatures drop. If you don t actually see a line of carpenter ants going to a pet food dish a rotting piece of fruit or some other food source you ll have to look for the signs.
Large black ants are usually carpenter ants which like to nest in wood. To get rid of them find and destroy the nests. However if their nests stay warm enough due to mild outdoor temperatures carpenter ants may skip their hibernation phase altogether.
In large numbers they can cause significant structural damage. This depends on the situation and how much the temperature drops in their nesting area.
Ways To Send Carpenter Ants On The Run Hgtv
Why Am I Seeing Ants Inside My Home When There S Snow On The Ground
Bugs News What Are These Big Black Ants In My House
Carpenter Ants How To Get Rid Of Black Carpenter Ants
Carpenter Ants How To Get Rid Of Black Carpenter Ants