# Hormiga carpintera

*Camponotus spp.*

**Confianza en la identificación:** Identificable con cuidado — Camponotus is recognizable to genus by a careful non-expert. Species within the genus needs a specialist, and rarely changes what you do.


## Cómo reconocerla

- The thorax seen from the side is evenly rounded in a single smooth arch, with no spines or dips. This is the most reliable carpenter ant feature and it separates the genus from nearly every other large ant.
- There is one node — a single raised bump — on the narrow waist between thorax and abdomen. Count it from the side against a light background.
- The antennae are elbowed, bending sharply partway along their length, and the body is clearly divided into a narrow, pinched waist.
- Workers vary continuously in size within one colony, from about 6 to 13 mm, so finding both large and small ants together is normal rather than evidence of two species.
- Colour is usually solid black, though several species are black with a dull red or reddish-brown thorax.

## Qué rastros deja

- Coarse sawdust-like shavings, often mixed with insect body parts, pushed out of a crack or a small round hole. The material is fibrous, not pelletized.
- A dry rustling or faint crackling inside a wall or window frame, most audible at night.
- Winged swarmers indoors in spring, which indicates a mature colony in or very near the structure.

## Por qué persiste una infestación

Carpenter ants do not eat wood. They excavate galleries in it to nest, which is why they concentrate in wood that is already wet or decayed — around leaking window frames, poorly flashed chimneys, sill plates over damp crawl spaces, and porch columns. A mature colony often keeps satellite nests indoors while the parent colony stays outside in a stump or a woodpile, which is why removing one nest frequently does not end the activity. The moisture that made the wood habitable is the actual problem, and correcting it is what prevents recurrence.


## Dónde se encuentra

Throughout the continental United States, with the largest species most commonly reported in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and Pacific Northwest.

## Qué la previene

- Correct the moisture source first — a leaking gutter, a failed window seal, a downspout discharging against the foundation. Dry wood is poor nesting habitat.
- Trim tree limbs and shrubs so nothing touches the roof or siding, since branches are the most common bridge into an upper storey.
- Move firewood, landscape timbers, and stored lumber away from the foundation and keep them off the ground.
- Replace any wood that is already soft or spongy; sealing over decayed wood leaves the habitat intact.

## Se confunde con

- **Termita subterránea (alada)** (*Reticulitermes spp.*) — The waist is broad and straight — the body reads as a single uniform tube with no pinch. A flying ant has a sharply pinched, narrow waist. This is the most reliable feature.
- **Hormiga olorosa** (*Tapinoma sessile*) — Crushed workers give off a distinct sweet, musty smell often described as rotten coconut or blue cheese. This is the definitive field test and no other common household ant does it.

**Verdict:** professional-recommended. Carpenter ants signal moisture damage and often nest inside structural members. Finding the nest and assessing the extent of decayed wood is the part that matters, and it is genuinely difficult from inside a finished room.


Source: https://againstpest.shop/es/identificar/hormigas/hormiga-carpintera/