Found Wing Termites at the base of my garage door (Houston: new house, buying)

[marykate1]

Hi,

I am freaking out right now but I found a trail of ants with wing termites at the base of garage door. My husband put some cereal like material (lot of) on them and now they are all dead.

I read on internet that usually wing termites come out after rain and as we all know it has been raining in Houston for 4-5 days.

Anyone else had a similar issue? I went outside and I saw all of the termites (wing termites) dead. But this is the first time me or my husband have seen these things and we are freaking out.

I have never seen these things inside or outside the house. They were partying outside just at the base of our garage door (pillar) with large black ants. Of course putting that cereal like material has killed them but not sure if they have made their way inside the house or not.

Anyway else had the same experience and encounter these winged termites after intense rain?

[marykate1]

I found this link and it seems like there are also flying ants. Here is the comparison:

Flying Ants, Winged Termites, Winged Ants, Flying Termite

It was hard to find a live flying ant after all that pest control thing but when I picked it up it has a thin abdomen and crooked antennas. So, it seems like they were flying black ants.

[rubynicholson77056]

Do you think they could be capenter ants? They are very similar to termites and some have wings, some don't. They tunnel through wood as well.

[marykate1]

Hi Rubynicholson77056,

You are absolutely right! they were carpenter ants + carpenter ants with wings.

Now what should I do. I pour some cereal like dust like material on them and at the base of garage door and they are dead for now but what if they are inside the wall.

I feel upset now!

[marykate1]

Found this link saying that Carpenter ants DO NOT eat wood.

Carpenter Ants

[rubynicholson77056]

Originally Posted by marykate1

Hi Rubynicholson77056,

You are absolutely right! they were carpenter ants + carpenter ants with wings.

Now what should I do. I pour some cereal like dust like material on them and at the base of garage door and they are dead for now but what if they are inside the wall.

I feel upset now!

No need to get upset, however, I am just like you! I hate any type of insect and if I see one, I immediately begin to freak out! My neighbor had carpenter ants as well as fire ants under her home and when she had her home treated, I could see them fleeing into my yard!
Even though I didn't see any in my home or outside of it, I called my pest control guy. If you are seeing them outside of your home, it may be a chance that they are inside as well. Look for small holes in wood or "frass" (a mixture of sawdust and insect droppings...ewww ) And if I were you, I would give the bug guy a call....annual treatments are about $300 and a pest control expert would be able to give you a better idea of whether or not you have an infestation. Remember carpenter ants can be just as harmful as termites...they don't eat wood but they do tunnel through your interior walls and hollow them out. FYI, I use Bugs Inc. Good Luck!

[marykate1]

Thanks again!

I did saw a large nest of these ants just today and pour hot boiling water on them. The nest is now gone. And I also pour that cereal like ant killer around the house. Currently they are dead. But that cereal will not last long as I think it will be washed by next rain.

I think the important thing was to locate the nest which in my case was in the drive way and it was too big to miss. I am amazed how they build the complete nest over night. My husband and I only saw the nest today and then of course freaked out.

Thanks for all the useful advice!

[latetotheparty]

i would still have a professional come out and do a complete inspection and treatment of your house as is deemed necessary..... wood boring or wood eating insects are NOT something you want to fool around with ..........

[chad.roper]

The best thing to do for terminites is too hire a professional exterminator. They have access to insecticides that are far more powerful and longer lasting than what you can buy because they have a liscense. If you just spray them you may kill most of them but you have to kill the queen or the colony will just either rebuild itself in a few weeks or move. If you are buying or building a new house I would try to get the system where they can plug into a hose in the wall and spray them. If you just spray the surface it will not do much most of the terminites are deep inside where normal sprays will not reach. The goal is to kill the queen if you do this the workers will die off because they cannot breed. Most social insects like ants and terminites have a queen capable of breeding and the rest are workers that are clones of each other but they only have 1 copy of their DNA (haploid) so they are unable to breed. YOu

[chad.roper]

The best thing to do for terminites is too hire a professional exterminator. They have access to insecticides that are far more powerful and longer lasting than what you can buy because they have a liscense. If you just spray them you may kill most of them but you have to kill the queen or the colony will just either rebuild itself in a few weeks or move. If you are buying or building a new house I would try to get the system where they can plug into a hose in the wall and spray them. If you just spray the surface it will not do much most of the terminites are deep inside where normal sprays will not reach. The goal is to kill the queen if you do this the workers will die off because they cannot breed. Most social insects like ants and terminites have a queen capable of breeding and the rest are workers that are clones of each other but they only have 1 copy of their DNA (haploid) so they are unable to breed. You also have to kill enough of the workers that you get the male drones and any females that are capable of becoming queens. A normal colony only has a few males the vast majority are haploid females.