Ant Control
in Shrewsbury, MA

You can’t live long in Shrewsbury without seeing plenty of large black ants running across the floor, sinks, and even your countertops. Some of them have become comfortable and assertive enough to not even worry about running. They may just mosey along or even stop and stare you down as if to ask, “Yeah, I’m here, what are you going to do about it?” The nerve! There are many different types of ants here that fit that description. While all of them warrant monitoring, awareness, and Shrewsbury ant control, the most notorious of the bunch is the carpenter ant.

Carpenter ants can be one of the easiest ants to correctly identify. They are rather large ants (can be anywhere from 1⁄8 to 1⁄2 an inch). They have bent antennae, long narrow thorax, and no stinger. They are a single node species with the petiole partially hidden. Finally, they have an evenly rounded thorax. Forgetting to look for the thorax shape can lead Shrewsbury ant control efforts astray as people confuse carpenter ants with:

• Cornfield ants
• Citronella ants
• Argentine ants
• Allegheny mound ants
• Field ants

Carpenter ants love wood. Unlike termites, they do not consume or eat wood. They build their nests inside wood using their mandibles. These powerful bodily structures can rip and tear chunks of wood right out of structures. Carpenter ants prefer dead or damp wood – call them lazy I guess. It is important to check damp areas of the home. Including sinks, bathtubs, windows, door frames, and even chimneys. They are likely to become aware of softening wood long before we become aware of any signs of it.

Carpenter ants are known to cause the most structural damage of all the different types of ants. Damage can vary, but if the colony has been living and settling in a property for an extended period of time, the damage can be very extensive.
Some signs of it is time for some focused Shrewsbury ant control include:

• Ants crawling in and around a building/home
• Ants crawling out of holes or crevices
• Signs of wood shavings
• Noise in walls

If you notice any of these warning signs, it is important to not ignore them and get professional help/advice. Early detection is key to prevent further damage to your home.

Carpenter ant activity can change from year to year and even season to season. Most ants live in nests outside but will make their way inside to search for food, water, and even to set up satellite colonies. Many Shrewsbury ant control projects get sidetracked by a single or multiple satellite colonies distracting from the main source.
It’s important to get an expert opinion on the matter. Contact one of Rove Pest Control’s ant experts to set up a service or even to simply provide educational information on the matter.

It doesn’t matter if you are in a new build-out or a well-seasoned home. Ants do not age discriminate, so it is important to regularly check for their presence or signs of such. If you are nestled back into the woods where deadfall is likely to occur, it is wise to set up a preventative Shrewsbury ant control service. As the foundation settles, it leaves cracks or crevices that ants love to use to enter the home. This is just one of the reasons why we provide our clients with quarterly services (or more often if necessary) for ants and other pests. Additionally, if something changes before we are scheduled to come back out, we cover that too.

Reach out to a pest specialist to get your custom plan in place so you don’t have to worry about carpenter ants or any of their other unwanted relatives.