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Flying Ants vs Termites

Summary: Knowing the difference between flying ants vs termites can save you a lot of money. Treatments for flying ants usually costs considerably less money than a termite treatment.

When reports of termite swarms start appearing on TV, radio and newspapers, property owners become acutely aware of every flying insect they see.

When the weather changes and things begin to turn green the world comes alive with newly hatched insects of all varieties. That, of course, makes the phone ring off the hook in pest control offices across the country. The calls pour in with reports of flying ant-like insects or from people claiming they have termites. The fear can be heard in the callers' voices. They need us to check their homes right now.

First, let's all keep a cool head. Termites are not buzz-saws as portrayed in cartoons. They will not eat a house to the ground overnight, in two weeks, two months or even two years. They are capable of damaging wood, of course, but not in the blink of an eye.

Step one in properly identifying a termite is to capture one undamaged. Don't crush, smash or otherwise make it unrecognizable. Collect it in a small bottle and add a drop of nail polish remover to kill the insect.

Step two is to examine its body to determine if it is an ant or termite. This is easy. Ants have three clearly defined body segments. There is no guessing. There is clearly a head, clearly a middle (thorax) and clearly a bottom (abdomen). Ants have an obvious pinched waist whereas termites do not. Ants also have bent antennae whereas termites have straight antennae.

Step three is to look at the wings. Ant wings are clear and veins are plainly visible. Termite wings, if they have not fallen off, are not clear and the veins are not obvious. Termite wings are milky in color. They are not bright white, but sort of a gray-white color.

That's it! There is no other magic involved. Use a magnifying glass to confirm your findings. This simple lesson can save you from the heart failure you were about to bring upon yourself when you first found those little winged critters. Now you can make an informed decision.

Comments

Mitch
23 May 2009, 09:56

Hi. I have these flying insects on my home that I am having trouble identifying whether they are termites or ants. They have the straight(slightly curved) antennae and longer wings like the termite pictured above however they have a very narrow waist like the ant and the wings extend to the end of the body. Is this just some other kind of ant? Thanks!

Ask the Exterminator
24 May 2009, 09:54

Pinched waist, it's not a termite.

Kathleen
30 May 2009, 14:34

I have just noticed alot of flying termites around my drive way. I have ID them as termites. Is it something for me to worry about or is this a stage they go through? I never have seen damage to the property and had a termite inspection 2 years ago. They do have straight antennae. Thank-You

Ask the Exterminator
30 May 2009, 18:45

Termites swarm once or twice a year as they try to establish new colonies. You only need to be concerned if you find them inside or directly next to the foundation. Just like the picture above, the antennae are straight.

Lisa
04 Jun 2009, 12:14

Do ants or termites come out in stages? On May 24, 2009, we noticed lots of winged tiny ant like bugs pouring out of our wood floor in the front hallway. My husband sprayed Home Defense and they immediatly died. However, a week later, we had the same winged creatures just pouring out of the wood floor again as well as on the 2nd floor in the window sill @ the front of the house and the 3rd floor window as well...thousands of these things...My husband sprayed again and they all eventually died. He went into the basement and saw piles of wood what appeared to be finely shaved wood/dust on the floor above the main supporting beam. He got a flashlight and looked thru the beam and saw thousands of larve crawling around. He went on the internet and treated the area as recommended and got 5 each gallon sized ziplock bags full of dead larve...it has been 4 days since and we are still getting larve from the area - dead of course. We have had a few more flying creatures but they all died once they came out of the sill. Are we finished or should we expect more? What are these...too small to tell if pinched waist or not...they are black though with silver/white wings that look straight. If they are termites, do we need a professional?

Ask the Exterminator
04 Jun 2009, 14:58

Certainly sounds like termites to me. Call a pro for an inspection. Your description makes it sound as though the termites have been there for some time.

judi
16 Jun 2009, 07:28

Hi,

I was just on your website and thank you for your information. I have several flying ants i guess becasue they have two main body parts and they are new to my house. I have a tri-level and I am finding them on the bottom florr which is ground level. I have sprayed and put several ant traps down. They seem to be coming out from under a refridgerator I have there. I have also found them flying in the adjoining room. I want to beleive they are flying ants but i have packaged them up and I will ask someone. What do you recommend if they are flying ants and are thery serious too. My son sleeps down there and I have three labs.

It has been raining every day is this the reason why?

thanks

judi

Ask the Exterminator
16 Jun 2009, 22:15

What kind of flying ants?

Gene
30 Jun 2009, 10:21

Hello
We have a log home. We seem to have at least 2 wood boring insects that are a concern for us. The first is what looks like a small winged ant. It's about 1/4 inch from tip of antenna to the end of wings. The antenna seem to come out of the front on the head and are not as elbowed as the above picture. Everything elso looks like the above ant - pinched waist etc. We find these in very small holes in logs - about 1/16th inch or a little bigger. They are kicking out a very fine powder. Do you think they are making these holes on their own or are they re-excavating holes of some kind of beetle (powderpost beetle?)? Is there a small flying ant that could/would bore directly into a log?
The second insect may be some sort of greenish irridecent beetle. We found one in a 1/4" slightly oval hole. We might have about 50 of each size hole in the house. We built this house ourselves and moved into it in 1997. We did not treat the wood with a borax product. We are about half done putting a finish on the logs.
Thanks

Charles
30 Jun 2009, 11:15

Hi. This morning I found hundreds of swarming winged, ant-like insects that were also crawling on the floor mixed in and along with what appeared to be hundreds of un-winged crawling "normal" looking ants. I immediately sprayed them and didn't get to read your article on how to identify them until afterwards. After spraying them I can no longer identify them. So my question is would termites be mixed in together in a swarm with regular ants? Or would this suggest that the winged ones are only flying ants and not termites? Thanks.

Bev
05 Oct 2009, 16:17

I have the same questions as Charles....please reply

Ask the Exterminator
06 Oct 2009, 16:53

Post your questions above as requested.

Allbidder
20 Oct 2009, 02:49

Could you please tell me what is the difference between Thermites and Borers.

Jeff
22 Oct 2009, 13:11

Hi! I live in Pittsburgh PA and we are experiencing an Indian Summer. Yesterday after work I observed probably 1000 tiny little bugs that look like a cross between termite, sweat bees and ants. They were all clinging to my grass. 1 bug per blade. And working their way toward my house. Once they made it to the concrete, it looked as though they weren't very good at walking. They would twitch and change direction frequently, and the died very easily. I did find, searching through the grass, 1 bigger yellow bee. I guess that is what it was. So I killed this bug, and about an hour and a half later the rest of them seemed to have dispersed. Can you tell me what they were or if I should be concerned?

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Flying Ants vs Termites

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