Carpenter ants can cause structural damage to wood in homes as they live in wood and eat plant juices, fruits, meats, and insects like termites. While they can be beneficial in cleaning debris, the worker ants live up to 7 years and the queen up to 25 years, with the queen laying between 15-20 eggs in the first year and 30 in the second as they are omnivorous insects that live in wood above ground or underground depending on the species.