Is That A Termite Colony Forming On The Wall, Or Just Flying Ants Buzzing The East Bay?
EL CERRITO (CBS SF) -- Ants are bad enough when crawling army-style across your kitchen countertops, but when they go airborne, it's an all out aerial assault on your goals for an insect-free household. And when they're mistaken for termites, it can be momentarily heart-stopping, as the two insects looking incredibly similar at first glance.
It's spring, and you're likely to find both flying around in the evening.
Thursday night, scattered swarms of flying ants were reported from Pleasanton to El Cerrito, with several getting into houses.
Worrying whether your home is about to be invading by wood-boring insects potentially costing you thousands in extermination fees can be resolved with a few quick tricks.
1. Winged termites have no waist, whereas ants manage to keep their signature figure. Put simply -- flying ants have three body parts, an abdomen, thorax, and head. Termites look like they only have two body parts.
2. All four termite wings are equal in size, and fall off quickly. Ants have a long wing and a short wing on each side.
3. Ant antennae are bent, termites have straight "whiskers" coming out of their heads.
In this illustration from Orkin, you can see the difference.
Catch one, and you'll know if it's time to pack up the picnic, or time to watch the wooden siding.
Here's an example from Youtube:
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