What Are Flying Ants?

Are you finding winged ants on the insides of your windows? Are you curious how those ants got inside your house? It can be mysterious dealing with these pests every spring, but don’t worry. You’ve come to the right place. Here is everything you need to know about flying ants.

Entomology of Flying Ants

When you find these pests in your home, the first thing you need to know is that flying ants are not a species of ant. They are a caste of ant. Flying ants (also known as winged reproductives or alates, or swarmers) are only one part of a thriving colony.

The cycle of a colony begins and ends with male and female reproductives. In the beginning, winged reproductives take to the air, mate with each other, and then establish a colony. The females become the queens of new colonies, and the males (also known as drones) die off.

When a colony has matured, it will begin to produce new male and female reproductives in order to establish new colonies and spread. When you see them on the inside of you windows, this is a bad sign.

What Flying Ants Mean

How long have you been vacuuming those flying ants up? If this is a chore you do every spring, you may want to stop and take a closer look at those ants. Not all flying ants are created equal. If your ants are large and black, you might want to call an expert. Carpenter ants cost U.S. property owners millions of dollars every year by burrowing into wood and weakening support structures. If you’ve been seeing these ants for years, you may have several mature colonies inside the walls of your home.

What You May Find Surprising About Carpenter Ants

If you’ve read this far and wondered how you could possibly have several mature carpenter ant nests in your home when you only see a few random ants in your kitchen, we understand. The truth is carpenter ants do most of their living and working within the walls of your home and typically forage for food outside of the nest at night so encounters with these pests will be uncommon.

When you see winged ants in your home it is important to get a professional opinion. The experts here at Active Pest Control know how to track and eradicate these elusive pests. That means safety for your equity.

Don’t let carpenter ants wreck your home.