2 thoughts on “Home Page”

1. Dr. Shetlar,
   I contacted the entomology department by telephone and was directed to your email. I think that we have carpenter ants in our home and I’m at a loss as to whom I should contact or what product or products might be effective in ridding our house of these pests. This is the second or third year that we have seen them, everywhere! The first summer, we had an infestation of them and they covered our light cream carpeting in our living room. They are large, black and have a very hard shell and are difficult to crush. The smaller ones are black and have long silver wings and the large ones appear to eat the winged ones on occasion. I used a spray, purchased from a garden shop and sprayed the entire outside of the foundation blocks of the house and it seemed to rid us of the ants but this winter, we have see them everywhere. On the kitchen floor, our family room carpet, upstairs in the bathrooms and they are inside the globe of the ceiling lights. They must be in the area above the ceilings as they are entering the ceiling light globes from inside the ceilings. Of course, they cannot escape from the light gloves and die inside, especially after the light bulb burns for a time.

   I have used Terro everywhere and have placed masking tape around the perimeters of the floors and put liquid Terro in a border around some of the rooms. However, this has not solved our problem. Do you have any suggestions for us? In the past, when I worked for an attorney’s office, we were in contact with the entomology department because of a client’s problem with termites and the lack of an exterminating company to solve the problem. There was a lawsuit at that time and I became friendly with one of the entomologists in your department. It was so helpful to discuss the problem on the telephone at that time. When I called this time, I was told to use the computer. I intend to contact an exterminating company but how does one determine which one is reliable and what pesticide should be used and in what proportions?

   Any information which you might have the time to share with me would be greatly appreciated.
   Kay Biggs
   614 371-0151

   Reply

   • Carpenter ants are one of those pests that are almost impossible for the average homeowner to eliminate! This is why we usually recommend working with a pest control professional. In most homes and buildings, carpenter ants merely occupy voids, usually near water sources (leaky roof, plumbing, regular condensation due to poor air flow, etc.) and where there is food (they prefer sweets but will feed on other insects, and protein foods). They usually have a primary colony in a rotting tree, wood pile or similar location. This is where the queen will be located. The workers establish satellite colonies where they may take eggs and larvae to rear, but the queen will remain in the primary colony. This is where it gets difficult to manage them. Most professionals will wait until warm weather, come out at night and try to locate the primary nest. Once this has been eliminated, the whole system will collapse. During the winter, they may use sound detectors to try and locate satellite colonies within a home. They can then inject insecticide into these nests to provide some temporary relief until the primary colony can be located and eliminated. We have a factsheet on this ant authored by our household-structural entomologist, Dr. Susan Jones.

     ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/pdf/2063.pdf

     In the future, feel free to contact me directly at my email address: shetlar.1@osu.edu

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