Termite vs Flying Ant: Who’s Who?

There’s one insect that makes the homeowner tremble at first glance. Of all the pests out there, few can do the tremendous amount of damage as termites. Still, many confuse this master of destruction with the winged ant. They look remarkably similar, but actually aren’t. So let’s take a look at the differences in a termite vs flying ant comparison.

First off, make no mistake—the winged ant can cause damage to your home, but it doesn’t pose near the threat of the termite. It’s important to know which pest you’re dealing with so that you can correctly combat the problem. Take a picture of the damage or save a dead bug when possible. This will help our Kapture pest professional quickly identify the issue so that we can get started right away.

Termites and Flying Ants

Whether you’re dealing with flying ants or termites makes a big difference in how you treat them. At first glance, these winged pests look the same, but they are vastly different. You certainly don’t need a microscope to identify which insect has invaded your home as there are key characteristics that separate the two.

Bodies

When it comes to their appearance, the flying ant has a larger body, but their waist is relatively thin. You can see their thorax and abdomen have a bit of separation due to the indented waist size. They can be a hue of brown or black.

The termite has a straight body with no definition in the mid-section, which means it’s impossible to identify their abdomen from their thorax. They too are either a brown or black color.

Wings

The wings are another central area where there is a noticeable difference between a termite vs a flying ant. Both insects have two sets of wings, which are in the front and back of their bodies. However, on the winged ant, you will notice that their front wings are considerably larger than their back ones.

On the termite, both sets of wings are of equal proportion. The flying ant has an antenna bent or elbowed, but the termite’s antennae are straight.

Behaviors

Flying ants live in a colony which can be in or around your home. These insects’ main goal is to find a place to create new settlements to keep their families going. Unlike other ants, including some within their own colony, many of these ants can fly.

When you see the winged ant in your home, they are most-likely swarming and looking to mate. They need to set up a new colony, so once the female has mated, she will break off her wings to begin the laborious task of bringing forth new life. She needs the muscle power it takes her to fly to lay all the eggs.

You might see a pair of her wings on your windowsill, which can help you identify if you’re dealing with a termite vs flying ant family. Once the flying ant male mates, they die. Their life’s purpose is to create new colonies by fertilizing the females, and once they fulfill this goal, then they perish.

Just like the ant, termites also live in colonies. Their colony has three types of termites: workers, soldiers, and the ones that will reproduce. The males in termite colonies don’t perish after mating; however, both male and female will shed their wings when building a new home. Their discarded wings are typically found on the floors, but they may also be on other surfaces.

Diet

So what does a termite vs flying ant eat? The flying ant loves to dine on nectar as well as other debris. They are known as omnivorous creatures, which means they love to eat plants and animal foods. Within these colonies, the worker is responsible for gathering food for the rest of the ants.

The termites, on the other hand, love to eat decaying matter. They prefer wood and the leftovers of dead plants and vegetation. The workers also gather the food for their colony, but their attempts to find nourishment can cost you thousands in damage to your home.

Life Cycle

The winged ant goes through a metamorphosis once the queen lays the eggs. Those babies will go through three distinct stages: larvae, pupae, and adulthood. The workers only live for a couple of months, but the queen can live for numerous years.

Termites also go through metamorphosis. Shockingly, the queen of the termite colony can live up to two decades, but the workers and soldiers barely make it a year.

Habitat

Flying ants prefer to be in the great outdoors, especially when it’s a warm and wet climate. When they come into your home, they will almost always be in the windows looking to get back outside. They ravage your pantry in search of something to eat, and they are drawn to light.

The termite vs the flying ant loves to be indoors. They find all the hidden cavities within your home to be a beautiful place to set up their colonies—which are often found in basements, where there’s both wood and decay. They can also harbor in porches, under siding, on roof lines, and within walls.

Damage

Damage done by a termite vs flying ant colony is where the biggest difference lies. The biggest problem with the winged ant is the mess they leave behind. Since they shed their wings and the male dies, it’s common to find dead ants and wings lying everywhere. Again, you will probably notice these on the windowsill.

When it comes to destruction, the termite reigns supreme. They can damage the structural integrity of your home, specifically the parts made of wood. Why are they so infatuated with wood? Well, wood has a substance called cellulose that they love to eat. They burrow into wood to extract this nourishment.

Termite vs Flying Ant: Getting Rid of Them

Now that you can clearly identify the differences between a termite vs flying ant, it’s time to get rid of them. While it may seem like the logical thing to do is head to your local hardware store for some spray, you must know that these methods are highly unsuccessful if you don’t get to the root of the problem. When dealing with termites, the entire colony needs to be eradicated.

The Winged Ant

When it comes to the winged ant, it’s not as complicated or costly to get rid of as the termite. If you only see a few around your windows during mating season, it’s probably not going to pose as big of a threat as if you see termites in your home.

Here are some things you can do to keep ants of all varieties at bay:

Clean Up

If you leave food and garbage around your home, then you’re just asking for trouble. Additionally, ants may not be the only thing that comes into your home for a meal. Keep all your food in airtight containers, and any leftovers should be disposed of. Even dirty dishes in the sink can attract pests.

Combat the Problem

With ants, you may be able to get rid of the few stragglers that come into your home with standard products. Now, if they’ve set up shop in your basement, then the chances of ridding them get more complicated. Many poison baits on the market encourage them to take the food back to their colony. Once they eat this food, they will all perish.

The Termite

When seeing a termite compared to a flying ant issue, you have a significant problem on your hands. Termites can create more damage than you could ever imagine and much of it is hidden behind closed doors. They have hearty appetites, so they will not only dine on the structure of your home but furniture and even the boards in your ceilings. There is nothing off-limits to these destructible creatures.

Due to the amount of damage they cause, and the way they reproduce so quickly, you need Kapture’s professional help with these pests. BUT if you don’t have a termite infestation yet, there are a few things you can do to make your home less appealing to them.

Spray the Foundation

It’s a good idea to have your foundation sprayed to keep them away from your home every year. Some insect control products allow them to take it back to their colony, where it will continue to kill them.

Clean Up

If you have woodpiles, leaves, rotting tree stumps, or paper piles near your home, clean them up. The more material that you have like these around your house and yard, the greater the chance of attracting termites to your property. Any stumps from trees that have been cut down should be removed immediately.

When You Need a Professional

Any insect that invades your space is not welcome. But it makes it even more challenging to combat when it comes to deciphering between the termite vs flying ant AND treating the pest properly. Both flying ants and termites can cause damage to your home, but the termite’s damage can go into the thousands, primarily when it affects your home’s structural integrity. Since they can destroy wooden materials, nothing in your home made of wood is safe.

If you see any winged creatures swarming around your windows and leaving sawdust and debris behind, then it’s best to have our Kapture Pest Control professionals evaluate them. The differences between termites and winged ants are hard to tell to the naked eye, and it often takes a trained expert to identify which one you’re dealing with in your home.

Please don’t wait too long to call us for help as the cost to repair your home increases with every bite they take out of your beloved house. There’ve been stories of people losing porches and other structural parts of their home as the termites have eaten it away. You don’t want to be one of those statistics, so call our Kapture team immediately if you are seeing these signs.

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