Pest Entry: Ants are usually a problem in the spring, summer, and fall months, making their way into homes through small cracks in window sills and doors that most people don’t even know are there. When ants do make their way inside, they are usually searching for places with food and water like kitchens or pantries. Once they have found a food source, Ants will often leave scent trails that contain pheromones to lead other ants to the food source they’ve located.

Environment: Ants can create nests in a variety of places including lawns, tree stumps, wall voids, and inside the home. Nest locations often vary depending on the particular species.

Reproduction: Carpenter ant queens will commonly lay 20 to 30 eggs per year and can live up to twenty years, with workers living up to seven. Carpenter ants can make their homes in porches, windowsills, roofs, and almost any wood that is in contact with the soil. To effectively eliminate them, their nest must first be found. This can be done by watching their activity at night when they are most active and following them to where they are entering the home or structure. Controlling moisture problems and replacing damp wood is also recommended when treating or attempting to prevent carpenter ants.

Health/Damage Concerns: Given their name due to the damage they cause to homes and other structures, carpenter ants cut “galleries” in wood to create nest. Carpenter ants are the most wood destroying organism that we deal with in the NW.

West Portland Area

Beaverton Ant Control
Tigard Ant Control
W Portland Ant Control
Lake Oswego Ant Control
West Linn Ant Control
Tualatin Ant Control