Somnambulist Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Last night I walked into the kitchen to find hundreds and hundreds of these little guys flying in the air and perched on the cupboards. I do have a large crack between my two kitchen windows and a light was on in the kitchen so I suppose it's possible they could have come in that way but I walked outside and didn't find a single one outside. I killed them all with a can of bug spray and no new ones have appeared. They liked the upper walls near the ceiling. I do have an attic and space between the attic and the ground floor and my worry is that this is some kind of critter that will eat my house. I hope it's just a travelling troupe of ants... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Somnambulist Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 http://pestcontrol.about.com/od/diffbetweenanttermite/a/Difference-Between-Ants-And-Termites.htm Quote from link. From this it seems clear that it's ants, but I'd love some confirmation: "BODYTermite: A termite has two distinct body segments with a waistline closer to the head than the tail.Ant: An ant has three distinct body segments with two waistlines nearly equidistant from each other, like a snow man. WINGSTermite: Termite swarmer wings are almost cartoonishly long and narrow, extending a body length or more beyond the rear end or abdomen. The wings of termites also tend to lay back very straight, parallel with the body.Ants: Ant wings extend just slightly past the end of the body. Their wings also tend to lie at a slight angle to the body, pointing away from the body at the bottom." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesseFrank Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Ants are easily to distinguish from termites since they have 2 set of wings fromn which one set is shorter than the other. Termites have 2 sets of wings of the same length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Somnambulist Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Thanks, Jesse. I should probably go dig a few out of the trash and look since my photos aren't very good. But the length of the wings in the photo also suggests ants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PostmanPat Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 As I understand it, they are some kind of termite which are driven up from underground by heavy rain at the start of the rainy season every year. If they are the same as the ones I get, and have repelled millions of already this season, they drop their wings after about 30 minutes and crawl away somewhere (to die?), or if they remain in your place sweep them up and dispose outside. The insects themselves seem too big to be the ones that munch your wood. If termites that big started to eat my house they would consume all of it in a couple of hours!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Somnambulist Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 As I understand it, they are some kind of termite which are driven up from underground by heavy rain at the start of the rainy season every year. If they are the same as the ones I get, and have repelled millions of already this season, they drop their wings after about 30 minutes and crawl away somewhere (to die?), or if they remain in your place sweep them up and dispose outside. The insects themselves seem too big to be the ones that munch your wood. If termites that big started to eat my house they would consume all of it in a couple of hours!!! I think you're right. The bodies are too big, and the wings are definitely not those of the typical ones that come every year and come in through every crack. The wife is freaked out and wants to have the whole house fumigated but I want to actually know what I have before I call the sprayers in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesseFrank Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Ants are easily to distinguish from termites since they have 2 set of wings fromn which one set is shorter than the other. Termites have 2 sets of wings of the same length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Somnambulist Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 My wife now agrees after talking to some other Thais online so that's that. They aren't termites and we don't need to spray. Whew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan8231 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Really look like common termites in Thailand. U should get rid of them. They try to find a way in the walls and attack everything made of wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan8231 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) Oh sorry didnt read that they dont have 2 pairs... Edited July 8, 2014 by dan8231 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Somnambulist Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Really look like common termites in Thailand. U should get rid of them. They try to find a way in the walls and attack everything made of wood. Uh, no they really don't, Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan8231 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Yeah well sorry, on the pics they look like some i know from kham phaeng pet. And they destroyed there more than house. So lucky for you. But also Ants. Try to close cracks with something called power knete. I dont remember the name in Thai but they die if they try to come through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mousehound Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 There are many types of termite and Ants. From the pics you have the wings are about the same size as the body which would most likely be Ants. Not all termites eat house timber by the way. You really need some of the bodies and take them to the Museum of Insects or somewhere else for clear identification. I wouldn't panic yourself into drastic commercial spraying until you know what you are dealing with. If you do spray then find out what they use - some of it may protect your house and, in time, kill you instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank James Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 One of the truly unpleasant things about life here is the occasional emergence of clouds of flying termites. They usually arrive en masse early in the evening, and swarm around any available source of light. They really seem to like LCD monitor screens. They find the smallest opening in your screens or any hole in the wall. They swarm around for an hour or so, and then they go away, leaving piles of their wings around. The lizards are in heaven when these hordes show up, and the bats love them too. If they decide to visit your home, the best defense is to turn out all of the lights and leave the house for an hour or so. I think spraying is a waste of money. The insects will be thriving long after man has disappeared from the planet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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