i have a huge phobea of ants and i found a huge colony of flying ants in my garden.. will they last for long because i dont want to go into the garden.. also do the giant ants that they turn into when they loose their wings last for long either??
2006-07-16 08:37:11 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
Sounds to me like you've come across a colony of large red (Or red-black, or black) ants. Each one is about half as long as a dime if this is what you're talking about.
These large ants have a mating season during the summer. Two kinds of flying ants can be found. The black ones are the males, and the red ones are the females. These are both breeding, and attempt to establish a new colony somewhere nearby.
Mating occurs onlu during the hotter summer months. It does not occur every year, and it rarely lasts for more than a month, so the flying ants should be gone in a few weeks.
The fact that you have any flying ants indicates that you have a much larger, and rather healthy colony of equally large ants nearby.
The bad news is that these ants are breeding, trying to set up other colonies nearby, and they have a very nasty bite.
The good news is that they are too big to do much exploring in your house, the smaller black sugar ants often kill the larger ones off, and the larger ants also seem to respond to poisons better. In some areas, they have been declared a nuisance, or an invasive species, and the local government may even exterminate them for free if you report them to the proper authorities.
As an aside, they rarely bit humans at all. I used to play with them at school all the time for about five years straight, and only got bit three times.
2006-07-16 08:54:18 · answer #1 · answered by ye_river_xiv 6 · 38⤊ 12⤋
NO, these are drones, leaving the nest to fly off to fertilize a queen somewhere else. Make sure these are NOT termites swarming..catch some and have them checked out. Good luck
2006-07-16 10:36:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 19⤊ 1⤋
For one thing, are they ants or termites? Flying ants are swarming, the new queen (or is it queens?) and the males follow and breed them. Then the males die in like 24 hours, the female loses her wings, burrows underground and starts a new colony.
2006-07-16 08:44:29 · answer #3 · answered by February Rain 4 · 9⤊ 7⤋
They are most likley termites, it's swarming season and last a week or two.
2006-07-16 08:42:47 · answer #4 · answered by David 3 · 3⤊ 15⤋
KILL IT!! GET THE EXTERMINATER DUDE!!!
2006-07-16 08:42:02 · answer #5 · answered by juan 3 · 26⤊ 9⤋