What's the easiest visual difference between carpenter ants and termites?

Look at the waist and antennae. Carpenter ants have a pinched waist and bent (elbowed) antennae. Termites have a straight, thick waist and straight antennae. Winged carpenter ants also have two pairs of wings of different sizes; termite swarmers have four wings of equal length.

How can I tell from the damage which one I have?

Carpenter ants excavate wood — they don't eat it. Galleries are smooth, clean, and you'll often find sawdust-like frass (sometimes mixed with insect parts) below entry points. Termites consume wood and pack their galleries with mud and fecal pellets; subterranean termites also build pencil-thick mud tubes up foundations.

Are termites a real problem in New Hampshire?

Subterranean termites do exist in NH but are far less common than carpenter ants on the Seacoast. The overwhelming majority of wood damage Thomas sees in Portsmouth, Durham, Exeter, Hampton, and surrounding towns is from carpenter ants — driven by coastal humidity and older wood-frame construction.

I'm still not sure what I have. What should I do?

Call Thomas at (207) 451-9451. As a B.S. Entomologist with 40+ years on the NH Seacoast, he can identify the species — and the damage source — on inspection. If it's carpenter ants, Ecotech's Precision Pest Control eliminates the colony from the exterior, guaranteed.

Does the same treatment work for both?

No. Carpenter ants and termites have different biology, nesting behavior, and entry patterns, so treatment differs. Generic broadcast treatment sprays often miss the colony source entirely. Thomas's Precision approach targets the nesting site directly — for carpenter ants, that means exterior-only treatment with no indoor treatments.

Identification Guide · By a B.S. Entomologist

Carpenter Ants vs. Termites:
How to Tell the Difference

Two Pests. Two Different Problems. One Phone Call.

Written by Thomas Pray, B.S. Entomology — 40+ years identifying wood-destroying insects on the NH Seacoast.

Call · (207) 451-9451

Thomas Pray, B.S. Entomology · 40 Years Experience

Guaranteed Carpenter Ant Elimination.
You don't pay if they don't go away.

This isn't fine print. It's the only promise that matters.

The Short Answer

Carpenter ants excavate. Termites eat.

Both insects damage wood. They do it in completely different ways — and confusing one for the other is the most expensive mistake a homeowner can make. Treating a termite problem like an ant problem (or vice versa) wastes money and leaves the real colony untouched while the damage compounds.

On the New Hampshire Seacoast, the answer is almost always carpenter ants. Coastal humidity, old-growth framing in century-old homes, and tree canopy from the Piscataqua to the Lamprey make this region one of the densest carpenter ant zones in New England. Subterranean termites exist here, but they're far less common.

Side-By-Side

The Identification Table

Print this. Walk your property. Then call Thomas if anything matches.

Trait	Carpenter Ant	Termite
Waist	Pinched, narrow — clearly segmented	Straight, thick — no visible pinch
Antennae	Bent (elbowed)	Straight, bead-like
Wings (swarmers)	Two pairs, front larger than back	Two pairs, all equal length
Color	Most often jet black; some red-black	Creamy white workers; dark brown swarmers
Size	Large — 1/4" to 1/2"	Workers ~1/8"; swarmers ~3/8"
What they do to wood	Excavate galleries — do not eat wood	Consume wood as food
Gallery appearance	Smooth, clean, sanded-looking tunnels	Rough, packed with mud and fecal pellets
Telltale evidence	Frass (sawdust + insect parts) below kick-out holes	Pencil-thick mud tubes on foundations; blistered paint
Where you'll find them in NH	Very common — Seacoast humidity + older wood	Uncommon but possible — subterranean species
Active season	Spring through late summer; peak May–July	Year-round; swarms in spring

The Damage Signature

Excavation vs. Consumption

Carpenter ant galleries look like the inside of a sanded canoe — clean, smooth, almost polished. Ants chew through wood to make room for the colony; they don't digest it. The waste falls out of small kick-out holes as frass: a fine, gritty sawdust often mixed with bug parts and insulation fragments. Frass piles under window sills, door frames, or basement beams are the single most reliable sign.

Termite galleries look the opposite — rough, irregular, and packed with mud, soil, and fecal pellets. Subterranean termites build pencil-thick mud tubes climbing from soil up over foundations, sills, and piers. Tap suspect wood: termite-damaged wood sounds hollow and feels soft; carpenter ant-damaged wood often still feels solid until you break into a gallery.

The Precision Difference

Why generic treatment sprays fail

Most pest control companies treat carpenter ants like they treat everything else: a broadcast perimeter spray, an indoor baseboard application, repeat next quarter. That kills the foragers you see — not the queen, not the satellite nests, not the parent colony. The visible ants disappear for a few weeks, then the colony rebuilds.

Ecotech's Precision Pest Control works differently. As an entomologist, Thomas locates the actual nesting site, identifies the satellite colonies feeding it, and treats the exterior at the source. No indoor treatments. No quarterly merry-go-round. The colony collapses, and the guarantee backs it up: you don't pay if they don't go away.

Call · (207) 451-9451 See the full elimination program

Identification Questions

Carpenter Ant vs. Termite FAQs

Look at the waist and antennae. Carpenter ants have a pinched waist and bent (elbowed) antennae. Termites have a straight, thick waist and straight antennae. Winged carpenter ants also have two pairs of wings of different sizes; termite swarmers have four wings of equal length.

Don't Let Carpenter Ants Destroy Your Home.

One call solves it. Guaranteed.