Knowledgebase

Ant identification and treatment #931708

Asked May 14, 2026, 2:16 PM EDT

Have seen numerous large ants over the past 3 weeks, mostly on kitchen floor or counter, also in family room and upstairs hallway. Always one ant at a time. Up to 4 a day. Need help identifying and eliminating. Not attracted to liquid Terro. Picture attached.

Frederick County Maryland

Expert Response

There are dozens of ant species that occur in Maryland, and they'd require microscopic examination to ID with certainty. Overall, the pictured ants look like carpenter ants, which chew nest tunnels into compromised wood (such as wood damaged by a water leak). It's possible they are merely foraging in the home and not actually nesting there, but the linked page has recommendations of where to look for entry points or nest sites.

For any indoor ant issue, try different bait types if one does not work. They contain different insecticides (Terro may be using borax as the active ingredient insecticide, but there are other bait toxin types used by other brands, such as the ingredient fipronil) and/or different bait materials, ranging from fats, proteins, and sugars, and the colony may be seeking one resource at a particular time and not the others. The linked page has a few more tips for using bait. If needed, you could hire a pest control professional to try to find the entry point from outside (for foragers) or the nest itself (if you suspect it's inside).

Miri

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