Carpenter ant primarily eat the honeydew of insects, fruit, plant juice, and other insects. Like most ants, they love anything with a high percentage of sugar, like tree sap, honey, table sugar, and sugary syrups.
If you have a carpenter ant infestation in your home, you’ll notice they send out a few select scout ants to seek out food anytime from sunset until midnight. Although they cause much of the same type of structural damage as termites, they don’t eat wood.
A carpenter builds with wood. Likewise, carpenter ants are building something out of wood, too – it just doesn’t benefit the homeowner. They build a network of tunnels by using the wood in your home as material, chewing through it, and building their own home to raise their young.
Although carpenter ants are infamous for destroying wood structures, they also need food and moisture to survive. There may be areas in your house that provide the carpenter ant the perfect habitat to thrive in, so read on to learn what kind of food lures carpenter ants to your home.
How Do Carpenter Ants Get Insect Honeydew From Inside the Home?
Carpenter ants have a strong preference for insect honeydew, more specifically, honeydew from aphids. After they consume the honeydew, carpenter ants won’t kill and eat the aphid, although they could.
Instead, they protect the aphids from their natural predators. The aphids then make more honeydew for the carpenter ants, and the cycle continues. The carpenter ant basically “farms” the aphid for honeydew.
Why Are Carpenter Ants Attracted to Sugar?
Not just carpenter ants, but all ants are attracted to sugar. Ants like sugar for much of the same reasons we do.
Foods with high sugar content are typically the most calorie-dense foods. The more calorie-dense the food source, the higher your chance of survival. Ants are known for being hard-working, so they need food that’ll sustain all their activity and help them grow.
This is why ants are evolutionally hard-wired to recognize and pursue sweet things more than other foods. They work harder to acquire them and go longer distances to obtain sugary foods.
This is how ants can keep up with all the work they have to do. Carpenter ants are constantly chewing through wood beams, so they’ll seek a stable sugar source nearby.
Sugar is also lightweight when compared to other foods. Ants are used to transporting objects many times their size, so transporting a lot of sugar in one go is the most efficient way of getting sustenance.
If you bake frequently or have a sweet tooth, clean up all the sugar and syrup you use. Avoid leaving sweet treats on your countertop or table for too long, as ants can sense sugar from 10 to 20 feet away.
What Insects Do Carpenter Ants Eat?
Carpenter ants eat anything with protein, like living and dead insects. They crave insects like termites, budworm larvae, anthropoid insects like butterflies, flies, mosquitos, and scavenged insect parts. Insects are densely packed with protein, making them an ideal addition to carpenter ants’ diet.
Worker ants usually suck up any fluids from an insect, leaving the dehydrated shell behind. Carpenter ants aren’t too picky. They’re omnivores like humans and can consume both plant and animal parts.
Can I Starve Out a Carpenter Ant Infestation?
No, carpenter ants can survive without food for months. Depriving carpenter ants of their primary food sources works as a prevention tactic, not an eradication treatment.
Not only can they survive without food sources for a long time, but carpenter ants feed on each other for sustenance. This usually happens after their internal food reserves run out.
The carpenter ant queen gives sustenance to only the first brood of eggs, and the rest are fed by the worker ants. Starving out carpenter ants can work as a preventative measure or at the beginning stages of an infestation.
Eliminate their primary food and water sources near carpenter ant colonies, make sure you don’t leave any sugar out, clean up after you’re done making something in the kitchen, repair any leaky faucets around the house, and check the exterior of your home to confirm whether there are any cracks in need of sealing.
How Do Carpenter Ants Scout for Food?
Most carpenter ant species spend most of the day chewing through decaying wood and making tunnels for the colony. As the sunset approaches, a few select scout ants are sent out to forage food for the colony.
The warmer the weather, the more likely you will see a scout ant out and about during the day. They seek out protein-rich or sugary food sources, like parts of dead bugs or the drops of honey you forgot to clean off your countertop.
See What Attracts Carpenter Ants?
FAQs
Do Carpenter Ants Eat Wood?
No, carpenter ants don’t eat decayed wood. They chew through it but spit it out as they can’t ingest it. Carpenter ants are often confused with termites, who do eat wood.
Since Carpenter Ants Don’t Eat the Wood, Does That Mean They Don’t Cause That Much Structural Damage?
Carpenter ants can cause extensive damage to the structural integrity of your house if left to their own devices. Just because they don’t eat the wood as termites do, doesn’t mean they don’t damage it.
Carpenter ants chew through your wood structures, creating intricate tunnels for their nest. Wood that’s been damaged by carpenter ants looks like a slice of Swiss cheese; full of holes and not very sturdy.
What Can I Do To Eliminate the Carpenter Ants’ Food Sources?
Carpenter ants like much of the same things we do, including sugar and protein. The best way to deprive them of their food sources is to clean up after yourself in the kitchen. Or keep pet food off the floor when your pet is done eating.
You might have food residue under the sink, behind your cupboards, or under your furniture. Carpenter ants will happily journey a long way just to get a few minuscule crumbs of sugary food. Carpenter ants will also consume animal products, like eggs, mayo, or meat you leave out.
It’s also important to deal with any water damage you might have in your house, like a leaky pipe. Damp wood is easier for the ants to chew through.
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