Flying termites??IN Nebraska??

justdon

Was at a friends house the other night. Parked along a street and noticed these masses all along the curb line. They were crawling with with huge ant hills and a third of them,,, about,,, were winged ants or insects,,,cause we were real unsure of what they really were. Carpenter friend said he thought they were flying termites. Then walked over to their HUGE dieing Maple tree. They were crazy amount of them crawling in and out of the root sections. It was REALLY loaded with them!! Homeowners wife just freaked and got some insecto squirtem from garage and squirted them (more like drowned them) she hates them!! Didnt sem to faze many of them,,,still wiggling after 10 minutes.

I always thought flying termites didnt really exist and true termites NEVER exposed themselves to outside air,light???Always lived within there mud tunnels etc. What sorta looks like an ant with wings,,,sorta!! Big they were,hard to miss,,twice the size of the regular big ants there!! How do you tell the difference?? IF these were true termites there is ALOT of biz to be had in THAT subdivision!!(Not interested,,,not MY job) Thanks,- just don-

Keyo77

FYI

Termites have straight antennae - flying ants have bent antennae

Termites have wings of equal length - flying ants have wings that are enequal in length

Termites have a straight abdomen - flying ants have a pinched abdomen

Hope this helps!

ocoee

Ants swarm just like termites do during the mating season and many different species will nest in trees, check for the pinched waist

If the insecticide was OTC it was probably just slow killing kerosene with enough insecticide to call it an insecticide
Pyrethrins are best for ants

ladymacbeth

I think termites pretty much fly anywhere when its mating time don't they?
while they are hard as heck to get rid of we've had some pretty good success discouraging them There is a super article on natural methods of dealing with them effectively instead of harsher and infinitely more toxic chemicals.
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/pdfs...me/Termite.pdf

XSleeper

The maple trees in Nebraska are a favorite target of carpenter ants, which is likely what you have seen. Carpenter ants are brown/black, some have wings, some don't. The termites I've encountered in Nebraska are small and white. Carpenter ants in maple trees can often migrate into your home, and it's a good idea to try to exterminate them asap.

Calm_Blue_Ocean

What you were seeing were male ants. The males have wings and only live for a short while (the workers are all female and lack wings). Once a year males are produced and leave the colony en masse. Queens are produced at the same time (they also have wings) and mating occurs in swarms. A Queen will then break off its wings and start a new colony. Queens may live for several years but they only mate once (they are able to store sperm for extended periods).

The majority of ants are harmless (and facinating). There's really no reason to kill them outdoors, particularly with pesticides.

ocoee

This is incorrect
All sexually mature ants, alates, have wings
The difference is that the males are small and the females are large with big butts

skymaster

Ocoee; Oh Man do we really wanna know how you know this?

Calm_Blue_Ocean

Whoops, you're right ocoee, they certainly could be termites. I should have looked at a map. My US geography is apparently pretty bad - I thought Nebraska was a little further north and beyond the range of termites (we don't have to worry about termites in Alberta). Of course termites are not ants (and ant workers, with very few exceptions, are sterile and wingless).

aniecruz

Termites lives deep within the ground and as such they and the damage that they could be causing will go unnoticed until a significant amount of damage has already been done. There are some ways that you can do to determine if you have a termite problem and need to begin treatment. Things that you need to look for around your home are wood debris and around the exterior of your home for termites and trails they may have created into your home. There are many different things a person can do to treat their home and property if the suspect they have a minor termite problem. Using baiting traps is usually a quick and cost effective method for removing the pesky termites from your home.

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Aniecruz

KevinLorak

Hi everyone, I'm new here and just wanted to say that a few years ago I had almost the same experience when coming home late at night. In a few weeks I started to spot some termites inside my house and basement and suddenly it HIT ME. It's time to call the termite extermination guys. I was infested. Dunno why they choose my neighborhood although we have never had termites in our area...mystery? By the way, a few days ago received a phone call from a friend from Nebraska - he also mentioned these insects - he asked "Hey Kevin are these flying termites.." - what a coincidence.

Kevin