15 replies to this topic

[That_one_ant_guy]

Helloo my dad doesn't want keeping carpenter ants in the house because he's worried that they would escape and make a home in the wood. Sooooo I wanted to get carpenter ants that don't chew wood. Any suggestions? (I really love carpenter ants😁)

[Antcatcherpro3]

First before I say anything, you only need to press the post button once. You posted this 3 times. Second, I think you should get fluon to keep them from climbing out. They are big ants, so they will easily fall, and they probably won't fit through any ventilation in a setup.

[That_one_ant_guy]

Lol idk what happend I pressed it once then my screen glitched and then boom triple post. And I told my dad all those things but he just doesn't believe me☹

So back to the main question does anyone know carpenter ants that don't chew wood?

[TennesseeAnts]

Most Camponotus you find in the US are going to at least sometimes live in wood, but if they're living in your house there's some serious issues far larger than ants living between the boards. They need moisture to live, and won't be able to live in your house unless its literally rotting.

[That_one_ant_guy]

Okay

[NickAnter]

Well you live in California, so you would have access to species such as C. semitestaceus, C. fragilis, and C. ocreatus. All of those nest purely in the soil, and not in wood. And like TennesseeAnts said, it is very hard for ants to live in dry, and sturdy wood that you should find in a house.

[That_one_ant_guy]

YESSS that is such a coincidence that the very carpenter ants that I'm keeping are c. Semitestaceus

[ANTdrew]

Can you just not tell him they are carpenter ants? Formica are really quite similar, but they don’t have the negative stigma, so that could be an option as well.

[MinigunL5]

Many species don't really live in wood. The ones that do probably won't live in the wood in your house unless there's already something wrong with it. And to do that they'd have to escape which is already not going to happen. Unless you really mess up and your house is already damaged, they're not gonna move into your wood.

Edited by MinigunL5, April 12 2021 - 8:26 PM.

[ZTYguy]

You can call them what AUS Ants says. Sugar ants.

[MrPurpleB]

You can call them what AUS Ants says. Sugar ants.

Careful, the ants will eat the whole pantry instead of the house. 

[Kaelwizard]

You can call them what AUS Ants says. Sugar ants.

Then their dad won’t want them because he’ll think they will eat all of the sugar in the house.

[ZTYguy]

Then just call them beeg bois

[Chickalo]

So Camponotus doesn't destroy your homes, at least not over night.  Camponotus chews down wood, which could take a while lol.  Also, Camponotus tends to be pretty calm so they don't try to escape often, but you can use barriers such as fluon or a tight sealing lid with ventilation.  If the Camponotus DOES manage to nest in your house (though it's like a 0.0000000000001 chance), then this means one of two things, A.  Your house's wood is rotten enough that Camponotus can chew through it quickly, or B.  You have termites that they probably ate and exterminated for them, but now you have ants.    Also, Camponotus queens are known to love to do this thing called "Dying midway through their founding stage", so there's not a huge chance they will get past that.  Haha, I crack myself up

[That_one_ant_guy]

Then just call them beeg bois

Lol beeg bois

[That_one_ant_guy]

Thanks for the information. This has convinced my dad to let me keep the carpenter ants that I have