Carpenter ants or termites in a Michigan house: how to tell and who to call

Two insects, two different jobs

A winged insect crawling out of a window frame in your house sends most people to the phone. That is the moment to slow down, because the two insects people confuse here, carpenter ants and termites, lead to different jobs, different licenses on the work, and different bills. A company that cannot tell you which one it found has not finished looking.

You can usually tell them apart yourself in a few minutes if you have a winged insect to look at. The EPA’s termite fact sheet gives the test: ants swarm with front wings longer than their hind wings and with bent antennae, while termite wings are equal in length and the antennae are straight. Put the insect on a sheet of white paper, photograph it from above next to a coin, and look at those two features before you do anything else.

Wings and antennae, side by side

The table lists only the features we could source, and leaves out body color and waist shape rather than guess.

Feature	Winged termite	Winged ant
Wings	Equal in length	Front wings longer than hind wings
Antennae	Straight	Bent

If the insect has no wings, this test does not work, and you are better off keeping a specimen in a sealed container for a company to see. The identification tool walks through what to note and what to photograph.

Why moisture is half of the answer

Penn State Extension, a Pennsylvania source, says carpenter ants seldom tunnel into dry, sound wood and instead excavate moist, rotting wood for satellite nests. It also says they and termites are easily confused and need different control methods. That is a Pennsylvania source describing the biology of an insect found in Michigan too, and we have no Michigan State University page on carpenter ants to cite, so treat it as general rather than as a Michigan finding.

In practice, if carpenter ants are in a wall, ask where the wet wood is: a leaking roof edge, a failed window seal, a leaking pipe, a gutter that dumps water against a wall. A treatment that kills ants and leaves the wood wet gives the problem somewhere to come back. The EPA’s termite prevention advice, which keeps soil around the foundation dry through grading and drainage, leaves a ventilation space between soil and wood, and reduces the openings termites can use, is also reasonable building maintenance for anyone with either insect.

Keep a record while you wait for the visit. Note if the insects appear at one window or in several rooms, if you have seen them at night or in daylight, and if any wood nearby feels soft or looks stained. A technician can do a lot with a photograph, a specimen and three honest observations, and you will be able to tell afterward whether the company used them.

What Michigan says about each

For termites, the best Michigan-specific statement we found is a 1973 paper in the Great Lakes Entomologist, of which we have only the abstract, calling the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, the most commonly encountered termite in the state. The University of Florida’s extension service puts the species’ range across eastern North America as far north as Ontario. This guide gives no county map of termites and no swarm date.

For the work itself, the EPA says termite treatment can only be properly performed by a trained pest management professional. Michigan’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) licenses that work under category 7B, wood destroying pest management, which names termites, powder post beetles, carpenter ants and wood-destroying fungi. Ordinary household ants fall under category 7A, general pest management. MDARD also offers a combined exam, 7J, covering 7A and 7B, so a technician can hold both. MDARD’s list has no category 7C.

What a company should show you

Before it quotes a price, a fair inspection tells you which insect the company found and how it knows, where the insect or its damage turned up, what the plan is and what it is meant to do about the moisture or the soil contact, and what happens if the pests come back.

Michigan’s honesty rule is on your side here. MCL 324.8313(12) says a licensed commercial applicator may not represent that a pesticide application is necessary to control a pest if the pest is not present or likely to occur. The statute does not say what counts as likely, so ask the company to show you the insect, the damage or the conducive condition it relies on. A company that refuses has told you something.

When a company proposes treatment, ask for the method in writing and for the applicator’s name. EPA tells you to ask to see the company’s license and to call the state regulator if you have concerns, and our guide to checking a Michigan pest control license lists the numbers to ask for. The termite page and the ants and roaches page cover each pest on its own.

If you are buying or selling the house

A winged insect found during a sale raises separate questions. No source we can cite says Michigan requires a termite inspection to sell a house, but an FHA loan can bring one in if the appraiser sees evidence, and the Michigan seller disclosure asks about any history of termites or carpenter ants. The home sale inspection guide covers that.

A short plan for the next hour

Collect the insect. Photograph it next to a coin, then place a few in a sealed container. Write down the room, the date, the time of day and whether the spot is damp. Look at the wings and antennae. Check the nearest gutter, downspout and the grade against the foundation. Then call a company, ask it to name what it finds and to show you the evidence, and get the method and the retreatment terms in writing before you agree to anything. If it is carpenter ants, add one question: who is going to fix the water.