Carpenter ants are one of nature’s most aggressive wood destroyers. Similar to termites, carpenter ants damage wood. Unlike termites however, carpenter ants do not eat wood. Carpenter ants only bore into wood to establish and/or enlarge their nest. They can do lots of damage to wood. They are able to excavate wood and cause moderate amounts of localized damage. The amount of damage carpenter ants cause is usually far less in comparison to that of subterranean termites; however, if carpenter ant nests are left untreated and undisturbed, the sheer numbers of ants can be enormous and the resulting damage caused by “mining” of wood to increase the nest can be substantial. Carpenter ants cause damages to wood primarily due to nest construction. In other words, damages are only a result of their nest building efforts. As a general rule, carpenter ants do not damage wood as heavily as subterranean termites, but given enough time and a large enough nest, damages can be severe.
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