flying termite or what and help! (Austin: houses, fence, yard)

[austinonline1]

In the back corner of my rented house where the north and west walls join with windows on the two exterior walls, and where my office computer is on the desk facing the north window, little slow-flying black flying insects come and go. For weeks I won't notice any and then I will be pestered by them. This week there have been more than ever before. Plumber has been out to check for leaking pipes or standing water at this corner of the house and said there was none. I have an exterminator coming early next week but this is driving me crazy. I bought some old-fashioned fly paper and hung it next to the window in front of my computer and captured, in a 36 hour period, more 30 of these things (and saved the strips for the exterminator to see) - on Mon-Tue there were a gazillion, then none yesterday, and today they're back. I don't have a camera that can get a picture of them but in searching the internet I think they look like flying termites - EXCEPT that their wings are not falling off like everything I read says they would (but maybe they haven't mated yet), nor are there so many that I can vacuum them up, as many web pages reference. I cannot for the life of me find a hole in the wall/window through which they are coming, although this place does have a lot of little cracks and ill-fitting baseboards. This is the only place in the entire house where I see them - not in the kitchen or anywhere else, so I don't think they're fruit flies. They look like this shapewise: http://www.pestproducts.com/images/trmvsant.gif except that their bodies are black. So maybe they're not the reproductive flying termite after all?

I know the exterminator is coming next week but this is driving me crazy and I have guests coming this weekend - any ideas? Thanks for any help!

[atxcio]

Carpenter ants. They are very common in this area, they've probably got a nest up there in some wood (probably in a previous termite-damaged area) or in a window frame (they seem to like those). The exterminator can get them, or you can do it yourself. They are very slow and will often just keel over and die on their own, messing up the place.

[austinonline1]

Thanks! (hmmm...the ones I have don't seem to have segmented bodies or angled antennae and their wings appear to be of equal length)

[CptnRn]

Termites are extremely common in Austin. You can find them in almost every wood fence around the yards, and if you aren't careful they can get into your house. It is smart to have your house checked every couple of years to make sure you don't have an infestation. Both of the houses I have owned in Austin have had infestations, so I have them inspected and treated every two years.

[austinonline1]

Aztec pest control was just here and guy said definitely not termites; he thought perhaps rover ants swarming for breeding but he wasn't sure. He didn't seem concerned and sprayed a bit into outside nooks and crannies. In fact, he seemed too unconcerned to me, now that I think about it - couldn't give a positive i.d. on the critters and just said they would probably stop swarming in a few weeks. I looked up rover ants and once again, these do not look like ants - these don't have segmented bodies. Oh well - at least he didn't charge me anything for the visit.