thatching ants Archives - Charles Buell Consulting LLC

August 20, 2021 by Charles Buell

Thatching Ant Posers

Hiking last Monday I came across what looked at first like C Vicinus Carpenter Ants except they had read heads more consistent with Thatching Ants.

Thatching Ants in Carpenter Ant Galleries

The close-up pictures confirmed they were Thatching Ants, so what were they doing in a log with tons of Carpenter Ant frass on the ground under the log? I contacted Laurel Hansen, world-famous entomologist regarding carpenter ants. She confirmed they were Thatching Ants and said in the natural decay process of the log the fresh wood is mined by carpenter ants and then as more decay occurs the Thatching Ants would move into the Carpenter Ant galleries. If enough decay occurs with enough continuous moisture, Moisture Ants might take over from the Thatching Ants. In conjunction with decay/rot, they all work to return the log to dirt.

Another oddity (for me) was this picture of an all white ant.

According to Laurel, this is the color of the ants when they have first emerged from their pupal shell.

So these Thatching Ant posers were not carpenter ants at all. About twenty yards away, their cousins had a more familiar location on the ground.

By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle

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December 13, 2013 by Charles Buell

Camponotus Modoc & Camponotus Vicinus & Thatching Ants in the Northwest

Carpenter Ants are very common in the NW. These ants belong to the largest genus (Camponotus) in the Family Formicidae.

Worldwide there are over 1000 species of Carpenter Ants–not all are wood destroying but when they are, they can do a lot of damage to wood structures. In North America there are about 20 species. In the NW we have mainly two of concern: C. Modoc and C. Vicinus. The “C” stands for Camponotus–the genus.

C. Modoc is pretty easy to recognize–these ants are pretty much all black and they are often bigger than any other kind of ant you are likely to find in the NW–especially in healthy colonies. Seeing these ants hanging out around your yard or in your home is always reason for concern and a Licensed Structural Pest Inspector should be consulted. It is a really good idea to capture a specimen or two in a zip-lock bag to show the inspector when they arrive.

C. Vicinus ants are a little more difficult to distinguish because they can vary from partially red and mostly black to mostly red and some black. This coloration makes it easy to confuse them with Thatching Ants. Thatching ants can be a nuisance but are generally considered beneficial in the environment. These ants rarely invade homes but have been known to nest in wall cavities and other hollow structures of homes.

Because Thatching Ants are not usually a concern in homes, when you see large ants streaming in and out of a home it is easy to think that they might be C. Vicinus, Carpenter Ants. All species of Carpenter ants have a smooth “back” or dorsum–no dents or indentations that would indicate that it is some other kind of ant. Seeing the notch on the dorsum of an ant requires some magnification–and difficult to determine with the naked eye.

Here is a picture of some Thatching Ants that were found in a porch structure—-there were hundreds of them streaming in and out of the opening under the floor boards. Pretty easy to think they might be Carpenter Ants.

If you look close though, at the back of the ant from the side, you can see clearly that the back is not smooth—-it has a notch–consistent with being a Thatching Ant and not a Carpenter Ant.

This distinction makes a huge difference in protocols for treatment–including whether any treatment is necessary at all.

By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle

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June 18, 2012 by Charles Buell

Individuality—we are all just ants.

This is a typical strip of grass between parking areas in a parking lot in Washington State. In the picture below, one can see a brown patch of “dirt.”

Thatching Ants doing their thing in a parking strip

As I got closer to this brown patch I realized that the brown patch was ALIVE. Yes, everything visible in the picture at the base of the tree that is dark in color is ANTS!

These are thatching ants and the large mound has been in place for quite a while as is evidenced by the grass and other vegetation growing up the sides of the mound. The activity on the surface of the mound would increase and decrease as the sun went in and out behind the clouds.

As I watched their activity it seemed almost incomprehensible that each one of these ants, on a genetic level, knows exactly what it is doing. What appears as total chaos to the observer from above is most likely not the truth at all.

When we extrapolate this mass of interactions to human activities, it certainly gives one reason to pause regarding notions of “individuality.” If one were to look down from above at the activities of human beings wouldn’t it seem this chaotic?

On some level, is the mass of human activity following unseen laws or rules that would actually make sense if we were capable of seeing the whole picture? Would human activity be “truly” chaotic as opposed to the very ordered chaos of the ants?

Here is another picture of a Thatching Ant nest I found on Whidbey Island. These nests are very common in Washington State and can be very large. This one is at least 24 inches tall and 36 inches in diameter.

The darker shadowy arc visible on the left side of the mound is actually a covering of ants as they stay out of the direct sun. The entire mound is constructed of bits of grass and twigs—-which is a bit like “thatch” and has earned them the name of Thatching Ants.

These ants take “finding oneself” to a whole new level.

Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle