After breeding, males die, and the queens drop their wings to make a nest.
Their appearance should only be brief.
Here’s how to identify and get rid of them.
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8 Ways to Differentiate Between Carpenter Ants and Termites
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Dust
Use insecticidal dust specially formulated for flying ants and indoor household use.
Inject this dust into the area where the ants nest.
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Bait
Kill flying ants with bait.
Although baits are much slower-acting, they can be easier and safer.
Warning
Some insecticidal sprays and dusts are mildly toxic to pets and humans.
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Use them carefully and selectively.
Ant baits contain sweet substances that attract ants and can be tasty to pets.
Pesticides
Spray pesticides will alsokill visible ants, both crawling and flying.
Most are toxic and should be used with great caution when sprayed indoors.
Boiling Water
Destroy the flying ant colony by pouring boiling water onto the nesting location.
The soap immobilizes and eventually dehydrates the insect, while the peppermint oil suffocates them.
Glue Traps
Put out glue traps, which have a substance that attracts flying ants.
They’ll land on the glue trap to feed and become stuck.
Why Are Flying Ants in My Home?
Most ant species feed on ordinary food substances and can colonize almost any dark, hidden location.
If you seemarching ants, a hidden colony may already be well-established and capable of reproducing ants.
Size won’t give you an answersome carpenter ants are much larger than termites, but others are smaller.
So, how do you know if it is atermite or an ant?
These are the characteristics of a carpenter ant.
Flying ants do not bite but can burrow into wood structures and weaken the wood’s integrity.
So, while they might not harm humans, they can damage property.
Flying ants prefer to make their nests near a water source.
Pests in Gardens and Landscapes.
Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California.
Carpenter ants.University of Minnesota Extension.
Flying ants vs. termites.
What’s the difference?Angi.
