Ants

Three ants dominate New England kitchens: pavement ants (small, dark, love sidewalk cracks and slab foundations), odorous house ants (crush one — smell rotten coconut), and carpenter ants (big, black, and the one that matters structurally). The trail on your counter is scouts following a pheromone highway to food; the colony itself is somewhere else entirely — often a wall void, a damp sill, or under the slab. That's why what you do about the trail matters more than killing it: spray a repellent and the colony splits into satellite nests; treat it right and the trail becomes the delivery route for the colony's elimination.

Worth knowing

• A carpenter ant queen can live over 20 years, and mature colonies run satellite nests — killing one nest often isn't killing the colony.
• Carpenter ants don't eat wood — they excavate it to nest, always choosing wood that moisture has already softened. Frass (sawdust-like debris) below a void is their calling card.
• Winged ants indoors in late spring usually means a nest inside the structure, not visitors from outside.