Flying Ants in Your House
Flying ants, or ‘ants with wings’, can enter your home during the mating season and cause significant damage to your property. Carpenter ants with wings may attempt to enter your home as they tend to build their nests in pieces of timber. This can cause significant damage to wooden structures.
What Are Flying Ants?
Flying ants refers to the fertile male and female ants who leave the nest with the sole purpose of reproducing to build a new colony. These flying ants are from multiple colonies and form swarms to breed in mid air. Generally, it tends to be the fertile ants only who have wings. ‘Worker’ ants with wings have been spotted although this tends to be a very rare occurrence.
What is “Flying Ant’s Day’ and When is it?
‘Flying Ant’s Day’ is an informal term used to describe the beginning of the mating process of flying ants. Flying ants swarm during the summer months due to suitable conditions in temperature, wind and humidity. It is difficult to pinpoint a specific date for “Flying Ant’s Day” in Ireland as it is determined by temperatures, which can fluctuate in different parts of the country. Therefore, ants with wings can be seen across several days depending on when the queen ant has left the colony. Once the mating process ends, the male ants will die within a couple of days, making it common to see dead ants on the ground at this time of the year.
How to Get Rid of Flying Ants
Due to the potential damage to your property, if you think you have a flying ants problem, it is important you take the necessary steps to get rid of them.
- Reducing the number of entry points to your property makes it increasingly difficult for flying ants to enter your home. Seal any cracks and openings around your home.
- The easiest way to get rid of flying ants is to keep windows and doors closed where possible.
- If you would like to keep doors and windows open during the summer months, installing a fly screen will prevent flying ants from entering your home when doors and windows are open.
Professional Control for Flying Ants
Due to the potential damage to wooden structures, if you are unsure about a potential flying ants problem, don’t hesitate to contact a flying ants specialist for expert advice.
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