Winged Ants In Attic

While it would be unusual to have an entire colony in your attic it is not unheard of.

Winged ants in attic.

Flying ants can be seen out in the open and nest in wood in which they tunnel. Ants will build nests where ever they can find a suitable area to do so. These pests will swarm in late spring and the early summer when there s bright sunlight and warm temperatures. The female flying ant however only sheds its wings.

While flying ants won t cause damage to your home they can. Ants in the walls. It is the queen ant that survives this stage so that she can establish a colony of wingless ant. A single ant colony could have as many as 50 000 individuals.

They are most commonly found nesting in wet damp and or rotting wood but may also be present in dry wood. Flying ants may seem more formidable than their tiny ant counterparts. Ants could damage your attic in as few as six months. When ants do this to your attic structures it could significantly compromise its stability and your roof could cave in any.

Flying ants swarm to mate. It s highly unlikely ants will bite or sting you while they re flying so don t run headlong into any mating swarms and you should be fine. Flying ants swarm for the same reasons that termites swarm which is to reproduce and expand their colonies. If you spot a cluster of flying red ants or a full blown flying ant infestation the first thing you ll want to do is repair or replace the rotted wood.

Depending upon distribution and cold weather conditions ants may be as likely to nest outdoors as indoors especially in many parts of the warmer more southerly portions of their distribution also the preferred indoors locations and food preferences of the ants listed below may vary to some degree since there is a lot of species specific variability among ants. Outdoor ant baits are a viable option to help control outdoor ant activity that s happening around your yard but ants won t always prefer the same type of bait so it is best to use both ant liquid bait and ant granules place bait stations near ant trails and check and refresh the bait on a weekly basis. Carpenter ants have built a reputation for shaving through wood making holes and tunnels that damage it. Ants and termites swarm to mate then the males die having done their duty and the queens drop their wings to find a nesting.

Ants develop wings in their reproductive phase of life. As is clear from the name flying ants they are ants with wings. If the ant species stings like fire ants do the winged fire ants can still do the same. Once the male and the female flying ants mate the male flying ant dies.

Interestingly though flying ants also known as swarmers or alates aren t actually a different variety of ant at all. Flying ants also prefer to swarm 3 to 5 days after a rainstorm. Whether the winged ant you see is a carpenter ant or a termite however the wings mean that the insect is a reproductive male or queen the only members of an ant colony that can reproduce.