subject: Flying Ants - How Their Presence Can Affect You [print this page] Flying Ants - How Their Presence Can Affect You
Sometimes, you might end up with a situation of flying ants in your home. These ants look nothing like termites, but can be equally disruptive in your life if they are left untreated. Flying ants tend to be less destructive to wood and other furniture than termites, but they may also end up infesting your house if they are not gotten rid of. This is because flying ants are - just as you might guess - ants sent out to find new homes for the colony so it can expand. The presence of flying ants in your home can cause problems if they are in a place where you often go, or even if they aren't. For example, you might get an infestation in the garage, but then realize they are spreading to other parts of the house. Any problem with flying ants should be stopped as soon as possible with the use of repellents or pesticides. You might only see one or two ants at first, but if you notice them on a regular basis, you should start to find treatment options. Note that termites and flying ants are really not much alike. Termites, for example, have long bodies and are not segmented the way ants are. Ants have bodies in three parts and look rounder and bulkier. The color of ants as opposed to termites is also different. Ants are red, black, and sometimes brown; termites are generally always black. Termites also cause wood destruction that ants will not, at least until they start to build in the house itself. This is why it is important to control swarms of flying ants: they will tell the colony of their new home spot, and then you will have a whole outbreak of regular ants as well. With a few applications of pesticide or even homemade treatments, you can usually get rid of a problem with flying ants without too much trouble. The main thing to remember is that it might take multiple treatments to completely eradicate them. These critters tend to be quite resilient, even for insects, and they don't always go away after the first treatment. If this is the case, don't give up; continue applying treatments until they are no longer infesting your home and interfering with your life. Hopefully you will never have to deal with an ant problem ever again, but if you do, you will know what steps to take to get rid of them.
