04/12/2026
Spring has sprung, the grass has ris' and by far our most asked question is: Do I have carpenter ants?
Answer: probably.
Carpenter ants are one of the most prolific pests in North America, with 3 dozen different species in North America, and a dozen in Canada. They're seemingly everywhere, and at this time of year if you're seeing ants they're probably carpenters. CA are the first ants to "wake up" each spring, responding to the early heat easier in walls or trees than their ant cousins who live in the cold ground. People fall into 2 categories: those who have had carpenter ants at one point in time, and those who will. They're that prolific.
But they can be tricky for people to identify, many people think carpenter ants are only the "flying ones", but not the crawling ones. Or we hear "no, these ones were red, not black" or "they're not the huge ones, more medium sized" - all of which can be carpenter ants! Almost every ants species (as well as termites) propagates by sending out winged reproductive drones, carpenter ants are just the largest and most noticeable.
Here on the island we most commonly deal with red and black species of carpenter ants, though the red ants are both black and red (black head, red thorax, black abdomen). Within each nest carpenter ants can have multiple color mixes and definitely several different sizes depending on their caste, or role. And within each caste you'll also see size variation depending on the maturity of the ant. There's truly no one-size-fits-all description for carpenter ants.
The colors of the "non wood boring" ants on the bottom of the picture are a bit deceiving for the pavement ant and odorous house ant since they're generalizations of species from other areas; our ants of these types look a bit more black than brown generally, but brownish ones do exist here as well some reddish pavement ants.
These are the "common 5" that you can encounter the most on your property on the South Island.
Pavement ants, as the name suggests, are the ones who live under your pavers or driveway slabs and push up the slab. They don't hurt anything, but over time as they push out the sand it can make your pavers settle and become uneven, leading to tripping hazards. There are both TRUE pavement ants (which are fairly small) and other ants that people call pavement ants as a catchall name, but both essentially work the same way, so we use the catchall as well.
Common garden ants are the most commonly mistaken for carpenters since they build nests in gardens closest to our homes. They also don't hurt anything, they mostly just pollinate and feed the birds, and freak people out. Easiest way to tell is that they scurry much more quickly and change directions sporadically, whereas carpenters tend to lumber along more slowly in a straight line. Carpenters are a bit more oblong in shape, whereas the CGA are more compact and have a slightly more round abdomen (or butt).
Thatching ants almost always have a red head, other parts can be red or black but the head is very consistently red. They're the ones who make mound nests and bite readily, but that's also what makes the beneficial. Their aggressiveness will keep other pest insects away and they will almost never invade your house. They prefer the dry, arid hills they make for themselves. In Germany they're protected as a beneficial bio-control, so we really don't want to go after these guys if we can help it. There are ways to easily coexist with these enforcers. Even carpenter ants avoid their territories!
Odorous House Ants are the actual species name for what people call "sugar ants". These are essentially one of the smallest ants you'll see out here, they can even be hard to see for some people. They don't wreck anything, but they can breed like mad and get out of hand if not controlled properly. They will nest anywhere and everywhere, inside or out, in seemingly any item or surface. In a shoe, under a pail, under tile, inside a speaker or printer... Do pest control long enough and you'll get a really whacky list of anecdotes with these guys.
If you've waded into the cesspool that is the modern internet and just wound up more confused than when you started, firstly, welcome to the club, and secondly send us an email. Knowledge is free, we don't charge for answering texts or emails. Attach a good CLEAR picture of the ant, or anything else really, and we'll do our best to identify it for you. If we don't know we have entomologist contacts and we'll run it by them.
