You wake up one day to find the front porch or perhaps your front door all covered in long-winged insects. There are thousands of them. They seem to be dead or dying. What are they? Are your home and yard now infested? They are winged swarmers, sometimes called winged breeders. They are queens and drones in their one and only mating flight. Both termites and ants have winged swarmers in their colonies. Here are tips from website on how to tell the difference between the two.
Look At The Antennae
On the top of the winged insects, heads are their antennae. In ants, these are long and bent, shaped somewhat like half of a square. In termites, the antennae are straight.
Look at the Wings
Both ant and termite swarmers have four wings or two pairs. In ants, the wings pairs of different size. In termites, both pairs of wings are the same size.
Look At the Bodies
This is perhaps the easiest Pest Identification method to use. Look down at the bodies from above. Look to see if the insects have a clear wasp waist. If the insects have a waist, they are ants. If they do not have a waist and are shaped somewhat like cigars, then they are termites.
Collecting Bodies
Insects tend to curl up when they die. For whatever reason, the winged swarmers may be curled, crumpled or falling apart when you discover them. The wings will naturally drop off of the bodies since most species of ants and termites will shed or bite off their wings when the mating flight is done and before they start making a colony underground. If you still cannot tell what kind of insects have swarmed your property, do not despair. Place some bodies in a resealable plastic bag or container. It may be easier to pick the bodies up with scotch tape than with your fingers. Be sure to wash your hands when the bodies are collected. Contact a pest control service at once to do the Pest Identification for you.
Danger of Termites
If the swarmers turn out to be termites, then you need termite treatments immediately. Termite colonies send out scouts to find more food. If winged swarmers are found in your home, then you can guarantee that you are dealing with a large, established colony.
