Last week I noticed a small little area in the ground(soil) in my yard where there were many cream coloured tiny ants...I never saw them before. I thought they were termites but there is no wood nearby. Yesterday all those ants turned into ants with wings. There were tons of them. I sprayed the area with "RAID" and killed them all. Does anyone know what the cause of these are...it appears these ants live in the ground they were crawling out and hatching into winged ants. Will they eat roots of plants e.t.c. and cause any damage?
Like termites ants generate winged reproductives who fly away from each colony to mate and establish new colonies.
Bit of an extreme course to take when you don't even know what they are! Suppose they were something beneficial?
Here in BC subterranean termites who feed on buried wood hatch out at this time of year. They do look like small black ants with wings but are a little different in shape if you do some comparisons. They will be underground all year without our knowledge, the larvae eating the wet wood and will never bother us if our house is properly kept dry. Do not ever let plumbing leak for these termites come invisibly into what is rotting from underground to feed on the fungus that grows on wet wood. Thru expansion wood in concrete slabs and rotten wood touching the ground, thru tubes made of mud. Their job, in the greater scheme of things, is to help decompose rotting wood, often buried which ought not to be around a house anyway and there are now building codes that require this. Keep no wet wood in the house & no senseless killing is required. The other sort of flying termite looks different. Could have been just ants tho, too. Take a closer look. What was it they did that was so bad? D
The winged dampwood termites here look like termites to me and not like black ants. Carpenter ants, like other ants do produce winged individuals in season. These are black.
Yes, Many cannot tell the diff without using a guide. I knew nothing about termites and would have thought they were the common ants on the wing but had a neighbour who was terrified of insects who researched it for me years ago, much to my eventual horror when they were found in areas of the interior of the house! Carpenter ants are larger than either the small winged ant which is about the same size as the little black underground sort of termite with wings. They both hatch the same way. Do they both hatch at the same time of year I wonder? I remember seeing ants fly in summer as a child. Doesn't matter to me what they are, just sharing what happened and that it just might possibly be something else. D
Looks like the answer is that you are talking about Reticulitermes flavipes which is (thankfully) not common in our northern region. This does produce darkly colored reproductives. http://www.responsibleservices.com/Pest_Library/termites.html
Well Ron you are not that far away from me up her eon Vancouver Island about 1/2 way on the east coast on the Georgia Straight. The pics do not do the real thing justice without the colour. Really Ron, I thought they were ants when I saw them! It cost me 1500 at the time! (about 15 yrs ago) I remember it well. Even the U of Guelph confirmed it . from the article you posted: "to heavy termite pressure area. We typically have Eastern Subterranean Termites (Reticulitermes flavipes) which is the most common and widely distributed termite throughout North America. It occurs south of the line where the average annual minimum" Perhaps they are afraid to cross the border these days? ha ha - friendly waves across the line ~~~~~ D
Well, it does not include Canada but it does seem to carry on as a slight risk into my area of having the little creatures at all. (smaller than carpenters) I suppose I am extremely unfortunate then in having these termites in this location, as well as losing thousands due to a neighbour's tree. Thks for letting me know just how unlucky I am! This town is full of the blighters, as is obvious when there is a hatch. D
If there are only carpenter ants here on this coast that fly then it ought to be easy to tell as the carpenters are larger than this type of termite. Here's a comparison pic. No question or confusion there. http://www.doityourselftermitecontrol.com/termites/difference_ants_termites.htm I grew up elsewhere and the flying ants were smaller. I could easily be confused which is why I continue to ask; to learn more, if so. Thks again! D
