Greenside Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 We've had a couple of days when those swarming hoards of flying things descend after dark and find their way through every tiny crack and crevice before losing their wings and disappearing as if by magic. My wife says that these critters are ants but looking online seems to suggest that you can't tell without a magnifying glass and since she accidentally threw away the specimens I caught for just that purpose, I'm left worrying that the ones that evaded our team of pet geckos may even now be setting up home under the built in furniture. Ants? Termites? Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onthedarkside Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 I call them 'flying termites'. No idea what they really are. They swarm in huge numbers, seem to land and then loose their wings. Make a huge mess on the pool surface, can get into our house no matter what barriers we try to block them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackr Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 ^^ They could be coming from within your house, but they aren't the eating kind, they are the setting up home kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joop50 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 They used to come with the first rains, gives some hope.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scd Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Yup they do sometimes seem to appear around rain time. They're a massive pain when they're in full effect, but thankfully 3 days is about it for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masuk Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 I think you'll find that these are termites, the eating house kind, looking for new places to set up home. If you have a room full of them, then that's bad news, as this means they've come out of a wall and trying to get away. Many Asian folk like to gather these and make a nice pan of fried flying ants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackr Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Flying termites do not eat wood, but their offspring (workers/soldiers) do. They appear in the spring, when the weather warms, to set up home elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morden Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 They are migrating termites. Chickens love them once they have shed their wings. You still have the mess of wings to clear up. Leave a light on indoors and a door open and your house will fill with the things in minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noise Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Even homes with good termite prevention measures will have these..... if you, Greenside, are referring to the one that, with wings, are about 1 - 1 1/2 inches long. Don't ask me why, but they do seem to swarm at night and look for light: sounds counter intuitive to me but they must have some logical explanation. I must remember to ask them about that. This year we seem to have a bunch of something that looks very similar but only about 1/8 of an inch long. These are only showing up in the house, maybe 8-10 at a time, and do not seem to lose their wings. They do look like little flying ants. I would lthink they are queen ants but they do not have the long, bulbous abdomen that I would associate with a queen (like the mang maow flying termites have). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Bob Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 They are migrating termites. Chickens love them once they have shed their wings. You still have the mess of wings to clear up. Leave a light on indoors and a door open and your house will fill with the things in minutes. Sounds like "maeng mao" (Northern Thai) - lose their wings, very messy! Didn't realize these bugs were termites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinnieTheKhwai Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 * They come from outside (typically) * Turning all lights off will keep them from trying to enter your home like crazed winged zombies * They do typically fly when there is rain.. indeed that's hopeful. * They make a huge mess when you drive your car through a swarm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenside Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 (edited) They definitely come from outside and it doesn't sound like much consolation if they are just setting up home before putting my woodwork on the menu. WTK: ....but are they wood eaters or just ants? Edited March 28, 2013 by Greenside Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puck2 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 They used to come with the first rains, gives some hope.... It's our experience, too. Open one light outside and put a tube fulled with water under it. Delicious food for the fishes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Bob Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 They are migrating termites. Chickens love them once they have shed their wings. You still have the mess of wings to clear up. Leave a light on indoors and a door open and your house will fill with the things in minutes. Sounds like "maeng mao" (Northern Thai) - lose their wings, very messy! Didn't realize these bugs were termites. here's a graphic (attached) showing life cycle of these flying termites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 (edited) They're not 'Thingies', they're 'dis-dings', as-in 'dis ding here and dat ding dare' ! Edited March 28, 2013 by Ricardo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorecard Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I think you'll find that these are termites, the eating house kind, looking for new places to set up home. If you have a room full of them, then that's bad news, as this means they've come out of a wall and trying to get away. Many Asian folk like to gather these and make a nice pan of fried flying ants. If they are termites, get onto it quick smart. Asian termites will eat your whole house in 5 minutes. We built a house in Chonburi city some years back, installed full high end hard wood built in furniture in every room. My Thai nephew (30 yrs old) lived in the house to watch it / take care of it / free rent. In reality he just used the place to sleep and bonk (but this of course could be true in any country). Within 12 months the furniture was basically gone, and it had attracted so many termites (pluak in Thai) they had damaged the cement poles that hold up the house. We quickly sold the house for close to nothing, explaining to the buyer the termite problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolf5370 Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 One idea is to put a light on outside - string a light up to a fence post etc - this will attract them and keep them away from the house (assuming your lights are off/windows covered at night). Ants east them, so to Jingjooks (and my cat!) My second year here my house was swarmed with them - all from outside as the kitchen had a louvre vent with no netting (big enough to fit your hand though) - next day glued a net over it (hovered them up with vacuum cleaner ). In the years since, when they start to fly I put up an external light - now we have a 7-11 with external lighting across the road - their problem now, not mine 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonietto Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 (edited) I believe they swarm to lights due to confusion. They use the moon (which is full) for navigation, but the lights throw their flight arc off, and they all end up bonking (there's that word again) into the light, which was supposed to be far away (the moon). This is applicable to moths/flames also. I don't remember who explained this to me but I think it was a naturalist of some kind. My bathroom in the states exploded with a larger species one night shortly after sunset when the moon was full. Lots of (much larger) wings in the morning. Edited March 28, 2013 by demonietto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywais Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 A morning aftermath from a previous year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elektrified Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 A morning aftermath from a previous year. PICT0140.jpg I was looking for a photo I took about 3 years ago when I saw the topic, but can not locate it at the moment. Then I saw Tywais photo. If you multiplied the mess by about 10 or more, it would have been what we experienced here. It took me a good hour and a 1/2 with a shovel and a broom to clean up more than half a trash can or more of their carcasses from everywhere in the house. We had the side door open one night when they came and we didn't know it. We were upstairs and the A/C was on with the door closed. When I walked downstairs I was shocked! Yes they are termites and usually come just before it rains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyL Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 (edited) We had them swarm from INSIDE our 15th story condo -- the place was infested with termites and were many others in the building. Our neighbors said to turn off all the lights in the unit, open the door and make sure the hall light was on. Sure enough, they swarmed there. The owner of the unit didn't care that it was infested and we moved after the lease expired so we didn't end up like other neighbors -- their kitchen counter collapsed because there was so much termite damage in the lower cabinets. Edited March 29, 2013 by NancyL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retell Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 leave a light outside on very bright and almost none will go inside the house , works for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elektrified Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 We had them swarm from INSIDE our 15th story condo -- the place was infested with termites and were many others in the building. Our neighbors said to turn off all the lights in the unit, open the door and make sure the hall light was on. Sure enough, they swarmed there. The owner of the unit didn't care that it was infested and we moved after the lease expired so we didn't end up like other neighbors -- their kitchen counter collapsed because there was so much termite damage in the lower cabinets. We had a kitchen counter collapse on us from the termites too. Sounded like a bomb was set off in the house the morning it collapsed. We replaced it with a concrete counter with tile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldChinaHam Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 I call them 'flying termites'. No idea what they really are. They swarm in huge numbers, seem to land and then loose their wings. Make a huge mess on the pool surface, can get into our house no matter what barriers we try to block them. In Taiwan they are called Bai MaYi, white ants. But these in Thailand look identical to the Taiwan Formosan termite. I think the Formosan termite is also here in Thailand from what I have seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldChinaHam Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Here is a very good and thorough research document which will tell you all you want to know about the different genera of termites in Thailand, divided by province and areas. http://www.aseanbiodiversity.info/Abstract/53003997.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Microwave Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Don't know if bug zappers are available in CM but it might be useful getting a few if you can find some. If these flying termites are attracted to light then turn on the bug zappers, placed outside of your home, at night and listen to the bugs fry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elektrified Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 They visited us last night. Took close to 3 hours to clean up the mess this morning. What was different this year was that there were babies (almost every screen was literally covered with them) as opposed to adult termites in the past, and they slid right through the screen so there must have been close to a million? of them that got in. This morning the ants were devouring their carcases. Happens every year just before the start of the rains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldChinaHam Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Don't know if bug zappers are available in CM but it might be useful getting a few if you can find some. If these flying termites are attracted to light then turn on the bug zappers, placed outside of your home, at night and listen to the bugs fry. I don't think bug zappers might be a benefit after the number reaches 1 million because you would end up with the zapper totally full. But what you need to do, I guess, is get some of those World War Two Black Out curtains and black out all light emitting from your home. Then just keep a few bulbs burning somewhere about 20 meters from your front door. They all will fly in that direction. Or, here is another idea, you could package and sell the termites to this company which markets them as edible on the web: DescriptionReviews (0)Ask a Question Cooked & Dehydrated Edible Winged Flying Termites. A Good source of protein & Fiber. To maintain freshness, bag also contains 1 x oxygen absorber & 1 x moisture absorber. Net weight 20g, Shelf life 12 months from date of manufacture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbrain Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 I think you'll find that these are termites, the eating house kind, looking for new places to set up home. If you have a room full of them, then that's bad news, as this means they've come out of a wall and trying to get away. Many Asian folk like to gather these and make a nice pan of fried flying ants. If they are termites, get onto it quick smart. Asian termites will eat your whole house in 5 minutes. We built a house in Chonburi city some years back, installed full high end hard wood built in furniture in every room. My Thai nephew (30 yrs old) lived in the house to watch it / take care of it / free rent. In reality he just used the place to sleep and bonk (but this of course could be true in any country). Within 12 months the furniture was basically gone, and it had attracted so many termites (pluak in Thai) they had damaged the cement poles that hold up the house. We quickly sold the house for close to nothing, explaining to the buyer the termite problem. You sure the nephew didn't sell the furniture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throatwobbler Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 These are termites, the ants should be out soon. The ants are a lot fatter. You'll see when the ants are coming out as the Thais will be sat by the nest waiting to collect them as they appear. my girlfriend can't wait for the ants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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