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I am not sure. When you look at the picture #4 from his post #1 - they look just like yellow ants. Their shape is like of ants. Compare with his post #5 and the pics 2, 5, 6, 7
Those are ants. Not sure of the exact species, but that's a typical mating flight swarm.
The female and male winged ants rise to the surface with a number of workers to assist. The winged ants then fly off, do their thing, drop to the ground and the females pull their wings off. The males die. The females will then search around for a good place to start their nest.
They aren't carpenter ants. In your pictures of the winged ants, the males are noticeable smaller than the winged females. Far left of this pic is a group of 4 winged reproductive females, a reproductive male, and a sterile female worker ant attending.
Most of those females that do drop to the ground and pull their wings off won't make it. Really why it's just a numbers game for them. 5000 or so might leave the nest, and maybe 10 colonies or so make it through the first year.
I wouldn't worry about this. Let them do their thing and 99% of the time they stay outside. If it concerns you, set some ant bait around your foundation that uses borax. Quite effective in eliminating colonies of ants that live near the house and might make their way in. I set up about a dozen bait stations and say my ant problem disappear in a few weeks.
Sorry forgot to check back in over the weekend. Someone asked where I'm located, which is E. Tenn.
After doing more research I'm 99.99% positive these are ants, and 99% certain they are citronella ants. Coloration and banding on the back end of the reddish ones are a perfect match. Local ag extension office confirmed they occur here, and what I saw was a common occurrence, essentially a mating swarm in fall. Apparently pretty common to confuse these with termites. Came across a photo that matches exactly what I had http://pestcemetery.com/wp-content/u.../picture-8.png from this blog post about them The little known Citronella ant | Pest Cemetery
If I get the nerve I'll see if I can find a yellow one to uh, squish (yuck), and see if it smells like citronella/lemon.
Location: Finally the house is done and we are in Port St. Lucie!
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Originally Posted by knoxnut
Sorry forgot to check back in over the weekend. Someone asked where I'm located, which is E. Tenn.
After doing more research I'm 99.99% positive these are ants, and 99% certain they are citronella ants. Coloration and banding on the back end of the reddish ones are a perfect match. Local ag extension office confirmed they occur here, and what I saw was a common occurrence, essentially a mating swarm in fall. Apparently pretty common to confuse these with termites. Came across a photo that matches exactly what I had http://pestcemetery.com/wp-content/u.../picture-8.png from this blog post about them The little known Citronella ant | Pest Cemetery
If I get the nerve I'll see if I can find a yellow one to uh, squish (yuck), and see if it smells like citronella/lemon.
Ewwwwwwwwwww *shivers*
Just thinking about that makes me.....
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