What is this thing? ant? termite? gnat?

I got up this morning and i found thousands of these things crawling all over my kitchen floor.

it`s about 1/8 inch long (3mm) and it has 2 wings (one on each side) and they can fly,but they seem to prefer to crawl.

I sprayed ant spray on them and it killed them but more of them have been showing up all day today.

a reply to: Tardacus

That appears to be a termite!

Ants usually do not have straight antenna and they usually have a small waist.

It could be some other kind of insect, but definitely doesn't have the features most winged ants have.

Termite Swarmers

a wing on each side?
weird.

thousands? i'd guess you have a dead body in a cupboard you havent noticed.
time for a spring clean.

originally posted by: Tardacus
I got up this morning and i found thousands of these things crawling all over my kitchen floor.

it`s about 1/8 inch long (3mm) and it has 2 wings (one on each side) and they can fly,but they seem to prefer to crawl.

I sprayed ant spray on them and it killed them but more of them have been showing up all day today.

That's a termite. They usually spawn in the spring time but its not unusual for them to spawn later in the year when its going to be a cooler summer. There are two main kinds of termites that live in America, one that isn't very agressive that only eats dead wood material (including paper in your drywall), and a more aggressive species that will eat thru lead and destroy your house in no time. Fortunately for you it looks like the more common less aggressive species.

Contact a pest control company that offers Termidore. I think Terminex does the job with a foam version of Termidore which I would recommend. When they did my house they drilled a hole near each drain or pipe area into my slab and pumped in certain amounts of Termidore. They sprayed the foam into the walls where the colony was. Lastly, they dug a trench around my slab and filled it with Termidore then filled the trench back in with dirt. The stuff is supposed to last up to 20 years. I had mine done about 7 years ago and no signs of termites.

You should look at the walls of your kitchen for dirt coming out of little holes. Especially near the sink where there are pipes. They like to crawl up the space between the pipes and the slab to eat drywall paper and studs, ect.

a reply to: seeker1963

oh geez!
I was afraid that`s what they were,if they are termites what are they doing crawling around out in the open I thought termites liked to hide?

a reply to: Tardacus

Here is a good site for info.

www.termite.com...

I would keep a few in a bag to show your pest control guy.

a reply to: Tardacus

BigPoJO is obviously more knowledgeable on them than myself. I would take his/her advise.

Good luck!

originally posted by: Tardacus
a reply to: seeker1963

oh geez!
I was afraid that`s what they were,if they are termites what are they doing crawling around out in the open I thought termites liked to hide?

They are swarming, its part of their mating process. They are like male ant drones. There are still millions of them in your walls that don't have wings. Go outside and look for tubes going up the side of your foundation, break it open and you will see some in there.

Yep, sorry. Ya got termites. It was a 'swarm' I expect, and maybe they haven't laid eggs in your walls yet.
Get on it!

a reply to: Tardacus

not when they are ready to fly and make new colonies.

a reply to: BIGPoJo

ugh, thanks.

I don`t have a slab, the house is 115 years old and it sits on brick footings (columns) about 2 feet tall.
i had a problem with termites a few years ago so i`ve been spraying around the outside of the house with termite spray and i put some those termite traps in the ground around the perimeter of the house

originally posted by: ladyinwaiting
Yep, sorry. Ya got termites. It was a 'swarm' I expect, and maybe they haven't laid eggs in your walls yet.
Get on it!

When they are swarming it means that its a mature colony with millions of termites. Nothing to worry about as long as you get it taken care of. Typically they will eat the paper in the drywall because its like "low hanging fruit" so to reach an unsafe amount of damage could take years.

But please refer to a pest control specialist.

It will be expensive to get the work done, but cheaper than letting it go.

Lastly, there will be more than one swarm so be prepared. Luckily for me it happened in my shower so it was contained by my shower curtain. It would suck if you were in the middle of cooking when they decide to swarm again.

originally posted by: Tardacus
a reply to: BIGPoJo

ugh, thanks.

I don`t have a slab, the house is 115 years old and it sits on brick footings (columns) about 2 feet tall.
i had a problem with termites a few years ago so i`ve been spraying around the outside of the house with termite spray and i put some those termite traps in the ground around the perimeter of the house

This could be cheaper to treat, and easier. Go look at the footings for tubes. The best protection for a house like this (beside chemical treatment) is to slide metal flashing between the bricks in the footing to make a barrier that they cant build thru or around. They require the tubes to survive without drying out.

well this sucks, thanks for the quick and very informative responses guys.

originally posted by: Tardacus
well this sucks, thanks for the quick and very informative responses guys.

Check out this pic for an example of the flashing I am talking about. There are many ways to do it but this is a good example.

www.childspestservices.com.au...

originally posted by: Tardacus
well this sucks, thanks for the quick and very informative responses guys.

For me; the swarms are always different every year (no termites as yet). Crickets, Mexican General black/yellow grasshoppers (3 would make a hardy meal); Cyprus Tip Miners, Tomato worms, Blister beetles, tiny grasshoppers non specific that ate everything in their path. What is with the swarming of these insects?

a reply to: BIGPoJo

perfect, the first picture is what I have, I`ll ask the exterminator if they can do that.

I was hoping that since I`ve been spraying and putting out termite traps that these flying termites might have flew here from somewhere else but since they are in the house it`s certain that they originated probably under the house and came up somewhere in the kitchen, probably a water pipe like someone suggested.
I`m going to call tuesday morning and have someone come out and give me an estimate.

I put my bug zapper in the kitchen for tonight in case any more decided to pay me a visit while i`m asleep.

The wings are florescent those are drywood termites as subterranean termites have milky white wings if you are seeing dead ones and wings it's a bad sign means babies are being made and time for your houses wood is running out plan a spot treatment doyourownpestcontrol.com termidor foam it's an expanding foam look for kick out holes which could be the size of a needle tip drill through it with an 5"8 in drill bit every 6-8 inches till you cover a 2x2 square and inject foam count 1 1000 2 1000 let go of button wait three seconds move on to next drill hole if that fails plan B TENT the property and be done with them till next swarm season...

Flying ants have segmented bodies like well ANTS. Termites have more of a 'solid' shape to their bodies (opposed to being segmented like ants). Note not all stages / forms of termites have the wings and that darkish flying ant look to them.

Ha!!

They just started coming here where I live.

Every year about this time, I have to shut the doors and windows so they don't come in all over the place.

I have those elec UV bug lights to bunch them up outside the windows and my little gecko buddies have a feast.

I've counted up to 13 little buds, just munching away!

Fortunately they start to swarm around dusk when I'm home and can shut everything.

They'll drop their wings all over the place too.

It only lasts about a week, so no biggie now that I've been here for 10 yrs.