Whenever these conditions are favorable.
Flying ants in attic.
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.
However it is not essential that flying ants in your house would appear after rains only.
With rotting damp wood that is normally found near the roof penetration your attic offers sustenance to carpenter ants.
Seeing flying ants in your home is never a good sign but having these winged ants in your home in the winter is especially problematic.
The vent pipes skylights and chimneys are areas ants can thrive building their nest from the wood available.
While it would be unusual to have an entire colony in your attic it is not unheard of.
The bigger ones are the queens they re up to 15mm in length.
A vacuum is probably the easiest way to quickly remove a large swarm of flying ants.
This usually happens after few days of heavy rain.
If the ant species stings like fire ants do the winged fire ants can still do the same.
When flying ants emerge in a swarm it is for the purpose of mating.
The flying ants form various colonies then swarm around certain places in the area usually a place of slightly higher elevation such as a hill tree or roof.
In 2018 flying ants invaded the court at wimbledon distracting tennis players and making news headlines around the world.
This is sometimes referred to as hilltopping.
In fact these ants behave according to the temperature humidity and the speed of the wind.
The good news here is that the ants are visible to you and they are still going outdoors to forage which means they will walk through areas that that you treat outdoors.
Flying ants can be seen out in the open and nest in wood in which they tunnel.
It s important to note that the carpenter ants do not eat wood but are attracted to damp wood.
Flying ants do not bite and they pose no danger to humans.
However winged ants are often mistaken for termites a pest that can be a significant problem if you don t treat them properly and allow termite damage to occur.
You ll see that some of the winged ants are much larger than others.
This is because ants only fly or even have wings when they are getting ready to breed.
If the ant species bites like a carpenter ant the winged carpenter ants can still bite if they feel threatened.
They are most commonly found nesting in wet damp and or rotting wood but may also be present in dry wood.
Mating typically takes place within a single day.
Simply suck the pests up with a handheld or full sized vacuum and then immediately replace the vacuum bag.
Brave enough to take a closer look.
Female flying ants are bigger than males.