Carpenter ants are showing the real capability and diversity of the ant world. You may have heard or seen that carpenter ants chew through concrete. Actually, can carpenter ants chew through concrete, or is it a myth?
Strong mandibles and legs have given carpenter ants the ability to chew through concrete. Carpenter ants do not eat concrete when they chew through, instead, they spit off the debris.
Carpenter ants are not the only ant species that chew through concrete. However, in this article, I will cover all the impact of the carpenter ants on the concrete floor, and how you can get rid of them.
Related: Can fire ants chew through clothes?
Why are carpenter ants chew through concrete?
Prior to seeing why carpenter ants chew through concrete, we need to look at why these carpenter ants are attracted to concrete.
Here are some key factors why the carpenter ants are likely to be on concrete floors.
1. Concrete retains the moisture
Moisture and precise humidity are something that ants always need to have. Because of that carpenter ants are attracted to concrete as it retains moisture for longer.
2. The temperature regulation
Concrete floors are able to maintain the stability of its surface temperature. Unlike te surfaces like steel that drastically change the temperature upon weather conditions, concrete floors and surfaces maintain a stable temperature as much as possible.
This particular quality will attract carpenter ants to concrete especially to choose the concrete as their living environment.
3. Cracks and crevices
If you take a look at your concrete pavement outside, you may find some tiny cracks and crevices on it.
Basically, these are the entry points for carpenter ants to start chewing through concrete.
Once they encounter cracks and crevices on a concrete floor, most of the time they chew through it to the deep and build their nest inside the concrete.
4. Lacking natural predators
Many ant species including carpenter ants have a tendency to build their nests inside houses, buildings, and concrete floors and driveways because they feel safe as their natural predators won’t usually reach there.
They can get ahead of the threats like birds, snakes, spiders, etc.
5. Food residues
This is another most obvious reason why carpenter ants are attracted to chew through concrete.
Is there any sort of food particles or a dead insect that they can rely on, carpenter ants will surely find them out when they are foraging.
For example, after a rainy day, if alates come out to the garden light, and lie on the pavement, on the very next day or at the same night ants will get over the concrete floor.
Also Read: Does perfume attract ants?
Can carpenter ants eat concrete?
This is a very doubtful question for many people. It’s pretty clear that carpenter ants chew through concrete. But can carpenter ants eat concrete? Is it digestible?
Since concrete isn’t digestible for ants, carpenter ants can not eat concrete even though they can chew through it. In the process of chewing, they spit off the concrete they chew, and those spitted particles can appear as concrete powder on your concrete floor.
Can carpenter ants make holes in concrete?
Carpenter ants are capable of making holes in concrete burrowing it using mandibles and legs, and expanding the existing cracks to nests especially when the concrete retains enough moisture.
Carpenter ants have string mandibles, jaws, and legs to carve and chew through the concrete to make a whole.
They have given this ability mainly to carve through the wood, which they usually live on.
And even if they chew through wood quite easily, they do not also eat wood. They excavate the wood particles when they are digging into the wood.
How to get rid of carpenter ants in concrete?
Now let’s get into the solutions. If carpenter ants started to chew through the concrete of your pavement or basement, how do you get rid of those carpenter ants on the concrete?
Getting rid of or killing a whole colony of carpenter ants inside a concrete surface is a little bit complex task to do. Because, sometimes we may not have an idea how large the colony is or where the queen ant is.
On the other hand, you can not afford to lift the pavement stones or damage it to find the colony of carpenter ants.
So, here are some tricky methods that can help you to get rid of carpenter ants in concrete.
1. Seal the cracks and crevices
As far as I am concerned, this is the most important step you need to follow, although it shouldn’t be the first step.
The reason for that is, if there are more cracks on your cement floor, pavement, or basement, carpenter ants can easily enlarge their existing colony by including some extra entry points.
Give your concrete floor a neat finish by sealing the cracks and crevices, so no more carpenter ants will chew through existing holes to make a nest inside.
2. Boiling water
If you can see carpenter ants hovering here and there on your concrete pavement or driveway, just pour some hot boiling water on them. It will kill them immediately.
You can also try pouring hot water into the cracks on the concrete, so boiling water may reach as much of the colony as possible.
3. Boric Acid
Boric acid is a fine solution to get rid of any bad ant infestation in your house. Ant it is not killing ants instantly. It can take a couple of days or a week to get rid of an ant colony.
In terms of carpenter ants on concrete, you can try an ant trap made with boric acid. Simply mix the boric acid with something sweet in taste like honey, maple syrup, or corn syrup.
Also, you can try these particular steps to get rid of carpenter ants in concrete using boric acid.
- Add ½ tsp of boric acid and 10 tsp of sugar into one cup of warm water.
- Mix it well until all the ingredients dissolve.
- You can use this as an ant trap and leave this solution where carpenter ants are foraging.
Once an ant tastes the sweetness of this mixture, it will tell others with its signals, so all the ants may drink this liquid and get affected later on.
4. Sprinkle some salt
Salt is an essential pesticide in particular to get rid of ants. Ants are breathing from their exoskeleton, and they desperately need to retain the moisture on their exoskeleton in order to do that.
But what salt does is dry up the moisture. So, with time it will kill the ants making them harder to breathe.
Must Read: Does salt keep ants away?
FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions regarding carpenter ants chewing through concrete.
Can carpenter ants chew through concrete walls?
Carpenter ants can chew through concrete walls using their mandibles and legs, as they can chew through both concrete and brick layers.
Although carpenter ants chew through the concrete walls they do not often eat concrete or bricks since there aren’t any nutritional benefits.
Can carpenter ants chew through concrete garage floor?
Many people often worry about carpenter ants chewing through concrete garage floors. Even though carpenter ants have the ability to chew through concrete garage floor, they have a low tendency to do that since the odor of chemicals distracts them from doing that.