Sunday, July 13, 2008

Identifying Flying Ants

I know how it is to have some sort of insect in your yard that you are unsure of. I also know what it is like to treat the wrong bug with the wrong treatment. So let’s get this one right. You have found what appears to be a flying ant or a termite in your yard and you are wanting to know which one that it is. Understandable, so you must be wondering which insect that it is. Don’t worry, I will help you with identifying flying ants and termites.

First I am going to present you with an image to help accompany the description of the differences between each bug.

Ok, the first difference that you will notice is the antennae. On ants, the antennae is always bent. On termites, they are straight and do not have this sharp bend. The different segments on the ant’s antennae will help you to determine which species of ant it is so that you can find a probable treatment option. You may be able to tell this difference from far away, but it is probably highly doubtful. So let’s move on to a more overt way to determine how to identify flying ants.

The next difference that you will observe is the wings. On termites, the wings are generally longer than on flying ants. Also, termite wings are all the same length. On flying ants, the front wings are noticeably bigger than the back set of wings. You can generally tell if the insect is a termite because the wings are about twice as long as a flying ant’s wings. There is also another noticeable way to help you identify flying ants against termites.

By looking at the body of a termite and a flying ant, we can see a few differences. For one, the body of a flying ant has three parts – a thorax, a head and an abdomen. A termite will only have two distinct parts – a head and a body. Another difference that you will notice between termites and ants is that termites have a wider waist. Ants have narrower ones, as noted in the picture.

So there are the main differences between termites and ants. I hope that you do not have an infestation in your house, but if you suspect that you do, at least now you which pest that it is so that you can contact the appropriate professional. Now go brag about your cool skill for identifying flying ants!

2 comments:

PestControl-delhi said...

According to Pest Control Delhi ( Us ) The kind of termite that people see most often is a flying termite.Their is many way to kill them Liquid termiticides , Baits and Borate Termite Treatment . Depending on Condition following methods are used.

Anonymous said...

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