Winged termites?

[Port Meadow]

We have had hundreds of black winged insects coming from one of our living room window sill. Looking at pictures online, they seem to resemble winged termites. Has anyone had experience with these and can you recommend a local exterminator? How much does it cost to treat? Thanks!

[Boris]

We have had hundreds of black winged insects coming from one of our living room window sill. Looking at pictures online, they seem to resemble winged termites. Has anyone had experience with these and can you recommend a local exterminator? How much does it cost to treat? Thanks!

They are winged ants, actually the male and female ants on their nuptial flight to start a new colony. The newly hatched "kings and queens" erupt from the colony on one day each year, and nearby colonies are all in synch, so that some genetic diversification can take place when they mate. The males will die soon after mating, while the females will start new colonies, and live underground, never leaving the "royal chamber" for decades in some species.

They will be gone in about 24 hours.

The colony is most likely in the ground, along the foundation. If you go out and look under the window, you'll probably find more out there.

More info:  http://www.antark.net/ant-life/ant-life-cycle/nuptial-flight.html

[honkytonkstar]

Think I have the same problem. Will try the can of Raid first and then determine the next step if that does not solve the problem. Noticed a lot more ants in general than usual this year in and around the house. They do no bother me as long as they stay outside, but stay the hell away from inside my house!!! 

[Mugster]

I've seen them too, and they are big.  The wings are black, in the picture in the link, the wings aren't black.

As for seeing more ants, same here.  For 2 days, we had an ant invasion all over the car.  They were running around the whole car, front to back.  It was like driving through an invasion.  Pretty awful.

I've also got so many wasps trying to live on my back porch.  So far, my trap isn't trapping.   

[chandasz]

We've been overrun by small winged ants. Along one wall. In the basement and the kitchen. WTH. How do find the nest so they won't keep coming back

[Bonster]

We had ants for the first time this summer.  I attacked with chemicals. 
I used some spray stuff on the back stairs where they were streaming up from the ground.  I also treated my lawn with some spray from the pet store to fend off fleas from all the feral cats, and it supposedly helps with ants.  Sprayed underneath the back porch, stairs, etc.  We'll see. 

Normally I do the Scott's fertilizer + insect treatement on the lawn right around this time of year, and apply this insect killer stuff in a bag you shake around the perimeter of the house and have had decent luck. 

That said, I do not like killing the highly beneficial spiders & centipedes.

[Crunchie]

Same thing happened to me earlier this year:

http://www.berwyntalk.com/smf/index.php?topic=10876.msg184839#msg184839

[jake]

You might want to try a bait instead of the direct chemical killers.  The worker ants take the bait back to the colony where it slowly (few days) kills the other ants including the queen.  If the colony is nested indoors, you risk dividing it.

[Bonster]

You might want to try a bait instead of the direct chemical killers.  The worker ants take the bait back to the colony where it slowly (few days) kills the other ants including the queen.  If the colony is nested indoors, you risk dividing it.

Great advice, jake. 

I think people are so anxious to get instant results, esp. when they're in the kitchen, the death sprays give instant gratification. 

[tgoddess]

Terro Ant Baits.  The last two years, ants have come in (when it's begun to get hot/humid) and these pretty much eradicated them within just a day or two.  Just keep them away from where pets or small children can get at them, obviously.

[berwynson]

Termites are usually thought of AS ants. They live underground, or within a cellulose-based (wood) structure as they eat it. They only fly during mating season, and only the winged adults are capable of flying. A concrete or masonry-walled structure having a wooden upper structure, often the roof, presents no problem to termites' ability to reach the wood. They construct clay & saliva "tubes", little tunnels, glued to the concrete wall, nearly always on the outside, but I saw them once in a garage storage area, which eventually extend the entire height of the wall to the wooden structure. At the top, open end of the "tube", which had risen upwards about 3 feet above the concrete floor, originating out of a slight crack where the floor met the cinder-block wall, I actually saw the little bastards busily depositing minute grains of wet clay on the wall! Termites in the non-winged condition cannot live long in the exposed condition, but why, I do not know.

I believe true termites are fairly rare in the Midwestern climate, at least in comparison to that of the hotter, arid desert Southwest, where they often utterly destroy entire structures.   berwynson

[jake]

Terro Ant Baits. 

The best stuff I have found.  Dirt cheap and works!  Just be prepared to see hundreds (not an exaggeration) of ants attack the Terro if you put it in the right place...and resist the temptation to crush them or bring out the sprays.

[billyjean]

Well, I don't know about termites, but HELP ... I can't sleep.  There is a singing penis in my backyard.  Talk about loud !!!!  I thought the Burlington Northern was comin thru !!!

Maybe men trying to attract a mate should try the same thing.

http://weirdnews.aol.com/2011/06/30/singing-penis-insect-size-matters_n_887778.html#s301085&title=Insect_with_Singing

[OakParkSpartan]

You sure your vibrator didn't fall out of your purse?

[billyjean]

You sure your vibrator didn't fall out of your purse?

Just looked.  Nope, still got it.

[berwynson]

You sure your vibrator didn't fall out of your purse?

Jesus!

[berwynson]

Just looked.  Nope, still got it.

Kee-rist!!