Few bugs are as well-known as carpenter ants and termites when it comes to getting into homes. These sneaky bugs can do a lot of damage to your home, especially if it’s made of wood. The poop they leave behind is a sign that they are there. But what is frass? And how can you tell the difference between the frass of carpenter ants and termites? Let’s figure out what’s going on.
What does Frass mean?
Frass is the word for the trash or debris left behind by insects as they go about their daily lives. Both carpenter ants and termites make frass when they eat wood. But because of how they live and act, they leave behind different kinds of waste that can be used to find them.
Carpenter Ant Frass: The Wood Pile That’s Been Eaten
Carpenter ants are the insects with the most woodworking skills. They don’t eat wood like termites do; instead, they make holes in it to build their homes. As they dig and tunnel, they push the trash out of the way in the form of frass. Carpenter ant poop is made up of tiny pieces of wood that look like sawdust. Depending on the type of wood they’ve been working on, the texture is usually rough and the colour can be light or dark.
When you find carpenter ant frass, it can be like finding a small woodshop. If you find piles of these wood shavings near wooden structures like window sills, door frames, or wooden beams, carpenter ants are probably at work nearby. But it’s important to remember that frass doesn’t always mean there’s a present infestation; it could also mean there was activity in the past.
Termite Frass: The Puzzle of the Neat Pellets
On the other hand, termites eat wood in a different way than most animals. These hungry eaters eat the cellulose in wood, and their waste looks like pellets. People sometimes call termite frass “termite droppings” or “termite pellets.” These tiny pieces are all the same size and shape. They look like tiny grains of rice that are the colour of wood. Termite frass doesn’t feel like sawdust like carpenter ant frass does.
Termites keep their tunnels and nesting places clean by pushing their waste out of them. Because of this, these pellets tend to pile up near entry points, which can be a clear sign that termites are at work. If you see small piles of pellets that look like sand or sawdust around the wooden parts of your home, you might have a termite problem.
How to Tell the Differences
To tell the difference between carpenter ant frass and termite frass, there are a few key things to remember:
- Texture: The frass of carpenter ants feels like sawdust, while the frass of termites is made up of neat, pellet-like pieces.
- Colour: The frass that carpenter ants leave behind is usually the same colour as the wood they’ve been tunnelling through. Most termite waste looks like wood.
- Size: The pieces of carpenter ant poop are bigger and less regular in size, while the pellets of termite poop are small and have the same shape.
It’s always a good idea to talk to a professional pest control expert if you’re not sure what kind of frass you’ve found. They can find the source of the frass and give advice on how to treat it and keep it from happening again.
When fighting carpenter ants and termites, being able to tell the difference between their droppings can be a big help. Remember that it’s important to find these pests early and act quickly if you want to keep them from causing structural damage to your home.
At Ant Exterminator Oshawa we offer long-term solutions that can guarantee the eradication of pest presence throughout the property. We treat residential properties as well as commercial properties.