What should I do if I find Flying Termites in my house?

It must be that time of year, as we are getting calls from homeowners all over Brisbane saying they have found winged termites in their homes.

Spring and early summer months offer humid, warm nights, perfect conditions for reproductive termites to take to flight in mass in search of a mate to establish their own colony. It’s freaky how all the nests throughout the South East Queensland know that this is the night to party!

Each colony has been breeding thousands and thousand of winged termites (Alates) throughout the winter and autumn. Once they get the green light, they swam from an exit-hole constructed near their nest. You can see these holes high up in gum trees that appear like a bleeding wound. The higher up the exit hole, the better the winged termites have to launch out and catch the breeze as they are not great flyers. Basically, they will travel to where the breeze takes them.

Why my house?

Now the breeze might take them kilometres  or just a few metres to your rooftop or your porch. Once they land, they shed their long black wings and immediately search for a partner. Watch the video produced by Manfred Taege, which illustrates this process and “dance” really well.

How to tell if they are winged termites?

Conquer Termites often get questioned about the difference between flying ants and flying termites. There are three easy ways to tell them apart # 1 WINGS - flying termites have equal wing lengths, whereas flying ants have unequal wing lengths (one set of wings is also noticeably larger than the others). # 2 ANTENNAE - flying termites have straight antennae vs the bent antennae of flying ants and # 3 WAIST - flying termites have a straight waist vs the pinched waist of flying ants.

See the below picture for a great comparison:

Source: https://www.trulynolen.com/pest-advice-blog/flying-ants-vs-termite-swarmers-charlotte/

What should you do?

Don’t panic! Collect a few of the winged termites (they might have shed their wings by now) and place them in a clip-locked plastic bag, and place that in the fridge. We want you to do this so we can identify that they are termites and not just black ants. Now you have permission to grab a can of insect spray and blast away. We know you want to!

If you actually see the winged termites coming out of a hole inside your home, panic! Call us straight away.

Otherwise, call us to arrange a thorough termite inspection to gain peace of mind that there are no issues in your home or the garden.

Conquer Termites

• phone: 1300 417 007
• email: info@conquertermites.com.au