What type of ants are flying ants?
Flying ants are a type of ant that serves a single function to extend the life of their colony. Citronella ants, pavement ants, odorous house ants, and carpenter ants are the most likely to swarm in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania area each year.
What are little black ants with wings?
Ants with wings are known as reproductive ants, alates, or swarmers. These winged ants use their wings to fly out of their colonies and more easily travel to a new area where they can reproduce and establish a new colony. Termites also have reproductive swarmers that have wings and perform essentially the same job.
Are all flying ants carpenter ants?
Carpenter ants and pharaoh ants are just two species of ant that have flying ants in their colonies. Although carpenter ants can chew through wood and create property damage, generally speaking flying ants are not dangerous.
What attracts flying ants in your house?
As with many other types of insects, flying ants are attracted to sweet things like honey and sugar. If you have sweet products in your kitchen or pantry, make sure they are tightly sealed. Keep household counters wiped down and floors mopped to avoid an ant trail in your home.
What are black flying ants?
What Is a Flying Ant? Otherwise known as alates, flying ants are simply ants that are sexually mature. But during the winter, particularly in colder areas of the country, ants are not living and breeding in the open outdoors.
How can you tell the difference between carpenter ants and other ants?
Carpenter ant workers always have a rounded thorax and the one segmented petiole (a part that connects the thorax and abdomen) while other black ants have an unevenly shaped thorax with either one or two-segmented petioles. If wings are present, the hind wings are shorter than the front wings.
How do you get rid of flying carpenter ants?
Simply suck the pests up with a handheld or full-sized vacuum and then immediately replace the vacuum bag. A simple spray made from dish soap and peppermint oil spray will do the trick if the ants are scattered and difficult to reach by vacuum. Fill a spray bottle with one part liquid dish soap and two parts water.
Why am I seeing flying ants?
Otherwise known as alates, flying ants are simply ants that are sexually mature. So if flying ants are seen in your home during the winter, it is most likely that the ants are living within the structure of your home and, worse, it is very likely that there is a carpenter ant nest within the structure.
What to do to get rid of flying ants?
Use a handheld or full-sized vacuum cleaner to suck up the flying pests, and then immediately replace the bag. You can choose from a range of insecticidal dust, baits, and surface sprays to eliminate the ants. Baits are one of the most effective types of treatment.