Okay guys, what do I have here? Southeast Nebraska..

My day is not looking good.

looks like ants to me

get some destructive bug killer concentrate, ortho, bayer and spectricide all make some. mix a little stronger than directions say, get family out of house for day and spray well.

First guess is Carpenter Ants. If that's what they are, they are bad news. Unlike termites, they don't eat the wood, they merely hollow it out for their nest. Weakens the wood just as bad as termites.

Call an exterminator.

Ed

That looks like a [b][color:#3333FF]Termite mud tunnel[/color][/b] to me, but might be ants...

Looks like a termite mud tunnel but ants on the outside. Ants eat termites.....call an exterminator.

Yep, ants preying on the termites. Call the Orkin Man.

There's larva exposed to the air at the back of the beam. Surprised to see them exposed to the air.

Found at least 2 places where beams join that have that mud tunnel like mess.

Crap. Did not need this. Fortunately it's in a detached garage and not the house, hoping they haven't made it to the house.

termites

Don't matter what they are, they gotta go.

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/martins-permethrin-10-p-2124.html

Martin's Permethrin 10%

Your local feed store should carry this. I've been using this for years as a perimeter spray and it kills all bugs. The directions attached to the bottle list additional insects (fireants, ants, etc.). The 28 day residual effect is nice, and no odor. Can also be used on your dogs, cattle, horses, feed lots, barns, stables etc. (NOT cats).

P.S. the link has a 'Shop By Pest' drop down menu at upper left.

We run permethrin maybe every 2-3 months in the summer for sure... helps out.

damm that looks like a line of grey caulk...but to rough. get'em!!

They are there because they have water available... Killing them solves the first problem... Eliminating the water will keep you from having to repeat the steps...

It is Nebraska and we are very humid in the summer.. but the garage has no leaks and is on concrete foundation with no wet areas around and no wood touching the ground. Utilities don't even run past that building, so no leaks from water or sewer pipes. So if there's water around, nothing I can do about it.

There may be nothing obvious, but ants HAVE to have water. You HAVE to eliminate the water or this will not be your first ant rodeo.

I cannot begin to guess where the water is coming from, but from thousands of miles away I KNOW you have a water problem that led to an ant problem. Fixing the ant problem will not fix your ant problem. You have to fix your water problem to fix your ant problem...

To start, what kind of ventilation do you have in the garage? Ridge vents on the roof? Super-tight insulation with vapor barrier? Gable-end vents and a ventilator fan in the attic?

Something is either bringing in water or not allowing it to escape...

Call the Orkin Man or his equivalent and have him do both the garage and your house. Had to do that several years ago. They started out in the detached garage 60 feet from the house but still managed to infiltrate the house to some minor extent. Don't make no never mind. They're a bad enough threat to your home's stability that its best to do overkill rather than than just get the garage done and feel you've gotten the upper hand. Now that you've found them you might look to having your garage and house done on a semi-annual or at least annual schedule. Once you find them even if you manage to kill those in the garage and house they'll keep coming from somewhere. They're worse than moles.

Well, that was interesting. Orkin guy did a full inspection of garage and house and yard and trees, and no signs of any live termites anywhere. Said the mud tunnel might be termites but he doubted it, and there's no signs they've been around for quite a while. But he was leaning towards the mud tunnel not being of termite origin.

So, looks like I'm going to be doing some type of perimeter spray as well as something to spray inside the garage.

Whew.. that's a HUGE relief. Thought I'd have to sell a couple guns there for a week or two.

Get more ants.

Well, if you could find a smidge of Regent insecticide, it is much better than permethrin or similar pyrethroid insecticdes.

pyrethroid insecticdes work pretty well but they do break down fast, especially exposed to UV....pretty good kill on contact but not that great for long term killing....

Do they sell a pesticide called "Coopex" over there?
It's not too bad as a residual pesticide.

Not under that name. Here it is simply sold as permethrin under various trade names.

Just as an update, went out to the garage the other night and the ants were back and the tunnels were built up even more.

Turns out it's definitely not termites. Pharoah and Thief ants both build tunnels from debris, the tunnels fall apart very easily. Some old ant bait I put up there a couple weeks ago didn't bother them at all, so I'll be getting some specific bait for them. In the end, though, they are annoying but no danger to the structures. Whew.

Personally I think they are thief ants, pharaoh are rather rare in Nebraska.

Thief ants: