Carpenter Ants vs. Termites — What You're Dealing With
Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) are Miami's largest ant species — ¼ to ½ inch long, typically black or black-and-red. Unlike termites, they do not eat wood. They excavate smooth galleries through wood to house their colony, pushing out coarse frass (sawdust mixed with insect fragments) through small openings. The presence of frass is a key identifying sign.
While slower to cause damage than termites, large established carpenter ant colonies weaken structural wood over time, particularly in moisture-damaged areas. Miami's humidity makes roof leaks, window frame rot, and plumbing penetrations common enablers of carpenter ant infestation.
Treatment Process
We identify the satellite colony inside your structure using frass location, auditory detection (tapping walls to listen for rustling in galleries), and foraging trail observation. The large ants you see are foraging workers from this colony.
Non-repellent insecticidal dust (or boric acid) is injected directly into wall voids and identified gallery locations. This reaches the colony inside the wall void without triggering avoidance behavior. Workers contacting the dust carry it through the colony.
Non-repellent liquid applied around the full exterior perimeter targets foraging workers entering from outside and addresses any outdoor colony structures (tree stumps, landscape timbers) contributing to the infestation.
We identify and document any moisture issues enabling the infestation — roof leaks, plumbing drips, condensation areas — and provide structural recommendations to correct them, since moisture control is critical to long-term prevention.