What causes flying ants in your house?
Do you have a lot of flying ants? Infestation of flying ants can occur for a variety of reasons. Ants in your home more than likely indicate an opening in a door or window. These ants often perish before they can establish a colony of their own.
These ants can usually be vacuumed up and thrown away with ease. Make sure your screens and windows have no holes or cracks that could allow more flying ants to get in, and seal them up.
When a new ant colony starts up, all the ants it makes are female worker ants that can’t reproduce. But when a colony decides to grow, it starts making males and females that are sexually mature and have wings. These ants leave in a group called a “nuptial flight” and start mating.
When a male ant fertilizes a female ant, the female ant starts a new colony. So, that explains why there are so many ants flying around. These ants are annoying, but they aren’t as bad as carpenter ants or termites.
If you see a large number of flying ants in your house, there is probably a colony there. Trying to get rid of the ants at this point is futile. To get rid of the colony for good, you’ll need the right ant treatment.
Flying Ants vs Termites
It’s worth noting that winged ants are frequently mistaken for termites. If you ignore what you think are ants and later discover that they are actually termites, they can cause a lot of damage to your home.
Physical Differences
If you look closely at the insect in question, you’ll notice that it doesn’t resemble a termite or a carpenter ant in the least. If you look at the bug closely with a magnifying glass or shine a bright light on it, you can see it with your own eyes. Here are a few obvious physical differences:
- The antennae of a termite are straight and beaded, while the antennae of an ant are bent.
- Both bugs have four wings. The size and shape of a termite’s wings symmetrical, and the wings are longer than the body. The back wings of an ant are shorter than the front ones. The wings of a termite are easy to lose. Their wings can often be seen on windowsills or near the opening of a termite nest.
- The worker ants are darkish in color, and you can often see them out in the open looking for food. On the other hand, termite workers are transparent, light, or a milky white in color, and they stay away from light.
Facts About Flying Ants
Here are some interesting flying ant facts you may have not known!
1. Normal ants with wings are known as “flying ants.”
Female black garden ants are the most common ants we see as they forage for food. Males and queens of the same species, however, take flight during the summer months.
2. To establish new ant colonies, they take to the skies.
When queen ants leave their nests to mate with males from other colonies, they form new hives.
3. The only time flying ants congregate is during the dog days of summer.
Temperature and humidity must be just right in July or August in order to trigger an ant invasion.
4. There is no such thing as “Flying Ant Day.”
The occurrence is commonly referred to as a “flying ant day” because of the large number of ants that appear at the same time. However, the phenomenon is more like a brief flying ant season. The winged insects can appear anywhere in the country between June and September, depending on the weather.
5. There is safety in numbers.
Because of their large numbers, the ants are able to fend off potential predators. They have a better chance of finding a mate if they are all flying together at the same time.
6. Tennis players despise them!
At Wimbledon in 2018, a swarm of flying ants descended on the courts, disrupting play and making headlines around the world!
7. Male flying ants are smaller than females.
Some of the winged ants are significantly larger than others, as you’ll notice. The queens are 15mm long, and they’re the largest of the bunch.
8. Queens are known to eat their own wings in order to get rid of them!
After mating, queens remove their wings and begin digging a new nest. On the ground, keep your eyes peeled for their discarded wings.
9. Flying ants, or alates, are also known as flying ant queens.
One of the most common insect forms is known as an alate.
How to get rid of flying ants
An infestation of flying ants can have a devastating effect on both your property and your home. The following are some of the methods you can use to deal with flying ants:
- Vacuum – To remove the swarm from its nest or hiding place, you can vacuum it right away.
- Fix Damaged Wood – It’s obvious that you want to keep your house in decent condition. Therefore, you can prevent further infestation and damage by repairing any damaged wood you may find.
- Seal Cracks & Crevices – Insects can fly inside and cause damage if there are any open spaces.
- Try Baits – Use baits in areas where ants are known to congregate.
- Get Professional Help – Ant infestations are a specialty of On Demand Pest Control, a full-service pest management company. Prior to assisting you in devising the most effective strategy for combating flying ants, our experts will conduct a thorough investigation.
Get Help from On Demand Pest Control
If you suspect that one of these places has been infested by one of these hitchhiker pests, contact a licensed pest professional as soon as possible. Pest control for bed bugs should only be performed by a professional.
