I desperately need help – I have Carpenter Ants in my Apt. and they are eating me alive!?
I live in a really nice apartment that was built 8 years ago. My husband and I have lived here for 7.5 years and have never had much of a problem with insects. However a few weeks ago, the apartment company (a large company I won’t name for now) said they were spraying outside for an ant infestation and to try and get rid of ants if we have em, but if we can’t, then contact them and if the person’s apt was proven sanitary, they would pay exterminator costs. However they did not indicate they would pay for the cost of having to stay in a hotel.
About two weeks ago, I started waking up in the night with pain and/or itching on my skin and would have welts developing that itch intensely. Some of these from even nearly two weeks ago still itch today. We couldn’t for the life of us figure out why I was getting these and thought I must be allergic to something. Then two days ago, when in my bedroom, I saw 3 massive black ants which I have come to identify as Carpenter Ants. Upon searching our room, we had found a total of 10 and I realized these were likely biting me and the pain that would suddenly awaken me was from them biting me and depositing formic acid (like a bee sting) into my skin. I couldn’t believe it and was disgusted, but then couldn’t understand how these few ants caused the now 40+ bug bites my body was covered in.
Then yesterday, my husband saw them coming up out of a tiny hole where our bedroom’s door frame met the carpet. We put 5 Terro baits (sugary syrup with Borax) around the hole and then left for the day. When we got home, one bait was already empty and every bait was full of ants. There was like 100 ants. Needless to say, we have been sleeping in the living room. We had never seen em out here, nor even the kitchen or bathroom, they seemed to be isolated to the bedroom.
Today however, we saw 3 in the bathroom, a few scattered in the living room and a few scattered in the bedroom. We put all new traps and there was maybe 20 or fewer ants feeding tonight and we have also found random dead ants, so the bait is definitely working big time. However I am wondering why these other ants are now entering other rooms. I am afraid they are like scouting for another place to nest. While laying on the couch, I just got bit on the ankle by one and it was so painful.
Sorry to make such a long story, but I am crying and desperate. I don’t know what to do. I am very sensitive to bug bites and I am literally covered in like 50 almost and even with benadryl and hydrocortisone, I am seriously suffering from intense itching, burning skin and now a serious fear of sleeping (I haven’t been sleeping for more than a couple of hours and only sleep during the day since they are busiest at night). My husband for whatever reason hasn’t been bit, and my dog seems fine, they just seem to lovveee me though.
-Should I just give it time and they’ll all die off or is there something else I need to do?
-Why are they now spreading through my apartment?
-I can’t live like this ;( Are the apts responsible for providing us alternate housing while solving the problem if we take that route? I really want to try and solve it ourselves to be honest, as it’s just so disruptive to involve exterminators, etc.
-Why are they biting me and not my husband? I have heard of some insects preferring different genders and/or races and I am a white female and he an Asian male, not sure if that matters.
-Should I seal off the hole? I fear they will just chew through the wood to come out another spot.
Thank you for reading this lengthy post. I honestly am thinking it’s so long nobody will want to help me, but I will just hope and pray someone will be able to help. I will gladly remember to give stars/best answer to the person whom helps me! Thank you!
Thank you! Our current Terro Baits: they take the poison back to the nest & it seems to be working, as we are seeing only like 5% of what we had the last 2 days, but I think I will have to contact my apt mgmt anyway 
such a pain.
That is strange though about the biting. My husband was showing me how they bite because I couldn’t fathom them doing this to me. He held a tweezer near one and it instantly attached to it and he literally wacked it against a wall and it still wouldn’t let go (boy did I gasp in shock)! Yet they are not staying attached to me, but we have no other insects in our apt, and even today I got an awful pain and tore my blanket off and there was a giant black ant running away! I just don’t understand the perspiration thing does make some sense and I move around a LOT when sleeping, and he never does, so maybe i roll on em. And these are HUGE, most near the height of a nickel, most near nickel height – never seen anything like it!
Look forward to more feedback!
TY Peter! Thanks for the link too! We have not traveled or stayed anywhere outside our home in over a year. When searching the net I heard about bed bugs and searched things like crazy, but did not find any signs of them, so *knock on wood* I don’t think it’s those, but doesn’t hurt to check again.
It was interesting what you brought up. I am not a drinker, however I have insulin resistance problems resulting in exceptionally high blood sugar & am currently in the process of seeing a doc for it and soon going on diabetes meds. Can that really be a reason they may be biting me? I would never have thought sweat may have a different scent. That would be nuts. I dunno. Last night I had HORRIBLE pain all of a sudden (laying on the couch) jumped up & screamed out (scared my husband half to death)& then saw a giant ant running away on the couch. Other nights I’ve woken up in a similar fashion with a sudden pain and then swelling & itchiness. Def could be coincidental, but almost too much so.
Also, re: bed bugs, some facts I had found were:
-The face, neck, hands, and arms are common sites for bed bug bites. –Those are the places I don’t have even 1 bite. I only have on legs & torso.
-The bite itself is painless and is not noticed –My bites wake me out of sleep, they are SO painful.
-A peculiarity of bed bug bites is the tendency to find several bites lined up in a row. –Don’t have any bites near each other, they are scattered everywhere.
Those were some of the things that made me rule it out (just in case any future poster is wondering, hehe) & then also that I have just not ever seen them when searching through our apartment. Though I realize it’s bizarre that it could be ants doing this to me, so i don’t know what to think anymore
July 14th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Ants look for food – you put out food.
me-exterminator
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July 22nd, 2010 at 5:48 pm
carpenter ants DO NOT eat wood so the best thing is watch your dogs food and make sure you don’t leave food lying around only liquid poison which they will take back to the nest they prefer dampness so dry up the area that’s probably why they are trying the bathroom if you can’t demolish them yourself did you consider staying in your parents/siblings etc.
internet
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August 1st, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Capenter Ants build their housing inside wood. If there are that many ants, chances are the walls are infested completely. There is the chance that the apartment is going to need extensive work to remove the ants and repair the wood that they have tunneled through. To not do that would be a possible fire hazard. Also you do need to have them exterminated. They will not just simply die off, and if you dont get rid of them they will cause quite extensive damage to the building structure.
If they are just now spreading, its possible that they had the nest inside the walls, and the spraying agitated them and caused them to look for some new ways out of their nest. Your apartment was their way out.
I am not sure if your apartment would pay for separate living arrangements. But considering this is their problem to fix, I am sure you could work out a deal where you could get money off of your next months rent. Its worth a shot. Before you have them call in the exterminators, however, I would suggest looking through the ant poisons at your local shops. There are some that advertise that they kill off the hive by tricking the ant into bringing it back into the hive. You might want to give those poisons a shot (keep them away from your dog though.)
For the biting, I would wager that you move around when you sleep. Carpenter ants (If that indeed is the type of ant you have, head to abdomen is about as long as a nickle) dont generally bite unless provoked. And once they bite they will not let go. Even when their heads are detached from their bodies they will hold on till you break the mandibles off.
Gender/Race don’t matter to insects. If a person has a certain sent that they are giving off its possible that they would be more of a target, but not likely.
Sealing off the hole will not cure your problem and will just cause them to chew another (which they might do anyways. For a quick sleeping solution raise your bed off the ground. If you can, cut the bottoms off of 4 mason jars and put them around the posts holding up your bed. make sure that the bed is not touching the wall and that the blankets arent touching the ground. This way the ants only way to get into your bed is to fall off the ceiling which isnt likely to happen.
Sorry that this has happened to you, Carpenter ants are a nuisance that I know all to well. hope it works out for you.
Personal Experience
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August 13th, 2010 at 10:36 am
A few things.
Carpenter ants do not eat wood. They eat insects and about anything sweet, but will eat dog food, cookies and other items inside your house if available. They nest in wood – especially wood that is damp or near water. But they will also nest in insulation – especially foam insulation.
Carpenter ants *will not* bite people unless attacked – and then they will do so quite painfully – but you will know it is happening.
Like all ants, carpenter ants give off Formic Acid which is the major component in bee-stings amongst other things. So if you are exposed to large quantities of it you may be getting an allergic reaction. Or you may be acutely sensitive to it.
So, unless you exude sweet sweat (not impossible if you are a heavy drinker (even sugary drinks – no negative behavior implied) or diabetic, for instance) they will generally leave you alone.
What I am leading up to is you may have an ant problem and then you may have another problem that is coincidental to the ant problem.
But, you can easily treat for the ants in a non-toxic but very effective way. Go to your local garden-supply and purchase dry diatomaceous earth. Scatter this in the path of the ants and it will kill them over time. Meanwhile it is entirely non-toxic to you, children, babies, pets – pretty much anything but insects and other arthropods (spiders and centipedes).
Then go to the link below and check. They have nothing to do with housekeeping or cleanliness and can get into your house from many sources – especially if you travel. And, some individuals exude a natural repellent against them which could explain how your husband is apparently immune.
Good that you have no bedbugs – some friends of ours who would easily be described as ‘clean-freaks’ got them from one visit to a certain mouse-centered Florida resort so it does happen.
And, if you are pre-diabetic or insulin resistant you will have the sweet-sweat that such ants may desire – considering that they also cultivate aphids for the honeydew – sweet exudates. And you are doing it in what for them would be massive quantities. Your husband is not – so he is left alone.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2135258_check-treat-bed-bugs.html
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