In article , Chuck snipped-for-privacy@excite.com says... :) Over the last couple of days I've found about a dozen carpenter ants :) dead or dying on my side porch. I have not put out any kind of pest :) killer, nor has any exterminator treated within the last year or so. :) :) My house has some termite damage here and there, but no active :) infestation. I know that carpenter ants like to burrow where termites :) have been, so I get concerned when I see them. What I'm wondering is :) why in the world they are all coming up and dying on this one :) particular step on my side porch. :) :) One last note, the porch is in the shade all day, so I don't think it :) is heat that is killing them. :) Could possibly some sort of other chemical that you are not associating with pest control been spilt or dumped out. Cleansers, petroleum products, etc. Another possibility is that dead/dying ants in a nest is basically trash. Carpenter ants pick one spot to dump their "trash" or frass. It is possible the ants have a nest above where they are accumulating on your porch with the ants being heavier than the other dirt and debris they are dumping, so they are what you are seeing, where as in a protected areas where they kick out the frass it it will pile up with the ants mixed up in the pile. The first three pics here...
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was that sort of situation. The dead ants on the carport was what caught my eye that there was a carpenter ant nest that needed addressing.