{"id":264,"date":"2022-03-29T00:47:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T00:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestexterminatorprices.com\/?p=264"},"modified":"2023-09-18T12:43:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T12:43:50","slug":"should-you-be-worried-about-flying-ants-in-your-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestexterminatorprices.com\/should-you-be-worried-about-flying-ants-in-your-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Be Worried About Flying Ants in Your Home?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
In a word, yes. You should be worried about seeing flying ants inside your home \u2013 particularly in the winter. That\u2019s because ants only fly or grow wings when they are about to breed. Usually, ants live outdoors and may probably have gotten inside your home<\/a> through a crack, hole, gap or any opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also called alates<\/a>, these winged ants are simply sexually mature ants. They seek shelter in warm areas (like your home) during winter so they can breed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carpenter ants with wings often get mistaken for termites (with wings). You\u2019ll known it\u2019s a carpenter ant when it fits the following description:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aside from these characteristics, you are also likely to see carpenter ants in the open because termites usually live in wooden structures like the back of your staircase, walls, etc. Both pests can be very destructive to homes<\/a>, with termites being the worse of the two. That\u2019s because termites eat wood (food source), while carpenter ants only use wood for nesting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether your home has winged ants or winged termites<\/a>, what it basically means is they\u2019re going to breed. The wings indicate that the insect is either a queen or a reproductive male. They swarm in order to mate and then the males die, while the queens lose their wings and look for a nesting site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A winged ant that you see in your home during summer months is not necessarily a threat. It\u2019s likely that it simply flew in from outside and would probably die before it could find a nesting site. It\u2019s different during winter months, because flying ants are not active outdoors around this time so it can only mean they are already nesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re most likely to find nesting carpenter ants in wet, damp or rotting wood. The first thing you need to do to get rid of them is to replace the rotten wood and dispose of the infested item properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next is to use insecticide to kill the ants. Insecticidal dust is especially formulated to kill carpenter ants and it\u2019s designed for homes and indoor locations. You can inject this product in the spot or area where the ants are nesting, or drill small holes in order to inject the product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another option is bait. It\u2019s safer albeit slow-acting. When the ants forage for food<\/a>, they will pick up the bait and bring back to the colony. Once it kills the queen, the entire colony is also eliminated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While supermarkets often carry insecticide sprays we don\u2019t really recommend this. When you use spray, you\u2019re only killing the foraging ants and not the queen ant. So it will not eradicate the colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Tell Between Flying Ants and Termites?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Swarmers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n