Flying Ant Night Tonight!

[JetsetBkk]

Sitting in the dark, all outside lights on, inside lights off... hundreds of the little b*ggers flying around outside...

Maybe I watered the garden too much? Normally they only come out after some decent rain.

Vacuum cleaner at the ready - ready to suck them out of the space around the ceiling lamps if they dare venture out of the loft.

Just one of Phuket's pleasures at this time of year. Hope it's not as bad as my old place:

Maybe I should give the pest control people a call...

[LivinginKata]

Not noticed any yet. Let's see how the pool looks tomorrow morning, if have these flying ants tonight then the pool will have a film of drowned ants.

Nothing pest control can do, they cannot spray the open air.

[Guest]

I have not had those flying annoyances for an while. I thought those were little termites.

I sometimes put a light behind of a fan to get rid of those from the house, in case I closed the lights too late.

"The one which I got was at least this big"

Ps. Your photo is quite wide. Try to resize it to 800px or max 1024px so that it does not break the page layout. Currently at least my chrome does not resize the uploaded photos to fit the browser width.

[Gonsalviz]

Wit for the rain. Then there will be millions.

[LivinginKata]

Wit for the rain. Then there will be millions.

Yes, very good point. Little bit of rain and then they come out in the millions. I don't really expect any tonight.

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

Ps. Your photo is quite wide. Try to resize it to 800px or max 1024px so that it does not break the page layout. Currently at least my chrome does not resize the uploaded photos to fit the browser width.

Yes, interestingly, the attached photo did not appear - as they usually do - as a thumbnail. So I didn't think about resizing it.

Maybe something has changed in the forum software.

I like your photo of the mantis.

I'm usually plagued by frogs after the "night of the flying ants" or "night of the termites".

Some of them just don't know when to stop eating...

Edit: And Frog poo is nothing to laugh about.

.

Edited March 3, 2015 by JetsetBkk

[leo202]

I think there termeits not ants.

[masuk]

also known as TERMITES looking for a mate.

I'm told that they're highly nutritious, and older folk gather these up for a quick stir-fry.

[andreww]

It's funny, as I just noticed them too on my rooftop (Bang Tao), had to retreat back to my office downstairs. Seems they appear on particular nights, regardless of weather. Last year this happened around end of March (in Chiang Mai), and it lasted for one night only (house full of wings next morning). There must be some underlying rhythm or process that triggers swarming behaivour.. would be good if someone enlightens us.

Edited March 3, 2015 by andreww

[leo202]

also known as TERMITES looking for a mate.

I'm told that they're highly nutritious, and older folk gather these up for a quick stir-fry.

Thanks for the spelling lesson.

[Guest]

<snip>

Ps. Your photo is quite wide. Try to resize it to 800px or max 1024px so that it does not break the page layout. Currently at least my chrome does not resize the uploaded photos to fit the browser width.

Yes, interestingly, the attached photo did not appear - as they usually do - as a thumbnail. So I didn't think about resizing it.

Maybe something has changed in the forum software.

I like your photo of the mantis.

I'm usually plagued by frogs after the "night of the flying ants" or "night of the termites".

Some of them just don't know when to stop eating...

When the frogs eat a bit too much, there are others in line for them. Evolution in progress. The ones who get too fat to move, will be eaten

I have normally couple of the gecko-frogs in my toilet. They make sure that there are no mosquitos on the toilet. Pretty good symbiosis for both of us.

I also got used to the thumbnail images previously. One option, the way I do, is to use external sites to upload your photos and then simply link/embed the images to the forum messages.

[JetsetBkk]

Wit for the rain. Then there will be millions.

Yes, that's what I'm afraid of!

A couple of years ago motor-cyclists were stopping by the side of the road because of the cloud of termites they had to ride through.

[gk10002000]

possibly timed or related to the approaching full moon phase?

[steelepulse]

That last rain a few weeks ago at night brought out thousands in my area. I don't know how they get inside with all doors and windows closed, but they do. They really seem to enjoy teak, even though

it is a "hardwood".

[Toknarok]

If you keep poultry, leave an outside light on with a large bowl of water beneath it. In the morning there will be a thick layer of dead termites floating. Feed to your chooks.

[KarenBravo]

<snip>

Ps. Your photo is quite wide. Try to resize it to 800px or max 1024px so that it does not break the page layout. Currently at least my chrome does not resize the uploaded photos to fit the browser width.

Yes, interestingly, the attached photo did not appear - as they usually do - as a thumbnail. So I didn't think about resizing it.

Maybe something has changed in the forum software.

I like your photo of the mantis.

I'm usually plagued by frogs after the "night of the flying ants" or "night of the termites".

Some of them just don't know when to stop eating...

Fat Frog.jpg

Edit: And Frog poo is nothing to laugh about.

.

That's no frog. It's a Painted toad.

[WitawatWatawit]

I always thought they were called antlions - nasty little predators, apparently. Every year around this time, they are ready to emerge from the ground after a couple of years hibernating. After a good rain, they take to the skies in their gadziliions. The little buggers can even get through mosquito net - I've pulled hundreds of them out of my nets. For the next month or so, I shall only leave one light on outside, far from the house, and the curtains well closed to prevent any light leaking out.That should keep them at arm's length.

[KarenBravo]

They are not ant-lions (check Google Images). They're termites.

[keestha]

Flying ant invasion happened to me twice in 15 years Khao Lak.

The first time was in the house at the edge of the forest I rented after the tsunami had destroyed my living quarters. All alone late at night, I was playing an online backgammon game with a guy probably somewhere in the US. All of a sudden they started coming in massively, and I told the guy I had to stop the game and switch off all the lights because of a flying ant invasion. The guy reacted: "hehe, you're somewhere out in the sticks?", and we broke off the game.

The next day I spent 2 hours cleaning up.

[Guest]

No rain, but I have some of the termites (smaller ones) circling around home lights now.

[AJBangkok]

Are these the same kind of termites that will devour all the soft wood in your house?

[masuk]

Are these the same kind of termites that will devour all the soft wood in your house?

closely followed by hardwood.

the floor of my condo has a teak floor; termites have been making a mess of these for a long time. The owner told me it was water from the bathroom.

Water doesn't eat the bottom of the tiles!

[keestha]

I have 2 types of termites. One type eats wood slowly, I continuously have to replace furniture and woodwork, often using the fake wood now. The other type is very aggressive, without exaggeration it eats a cheap wooden table (the screw the legs on yourself type) in 1 month. I lost a cupboard full of books twice.

The war against termites is like the war against the IS or al Qaeda, you might be able to push them back, but you will never win.

[Jimi007]

There are termite mounds all around Rawai. They really get thick after an afternoon rain that stops in the evening.

[masuk]

You might like to look into planting baits. These are often pieces of timber which have been poisoned, and they're buried around the foundations of the house.

You might have to talk to a termite specialist if there is such a person here. maybe try Googling?

good luck. they're a very invasive beastie, and in North QLD, a fine stainless steel mesh must be laid down before a concrete floor is poured, to prevent them coming in through any cracks.

The place I was renting was examined by a termite specialist every 12 months.

[KarenBravo]

Firstly, termites need to live in a damp environment, which usually means in the earth.

The termites you find eating stuff in your house are foraging parties. You need to locate their mound, dig into it, find the queen and kill it.

Secondly, even if you find a mound, it may not have a queen and may be just a satellite mound. I have been told by exterminators that these satellite mounds can be hundreds of metres from the "home" mound that contains the queen.

If you can't find the mound, you can lay down a poisoned food bait that the termites take back and feed to the colony, killing them all. Frankly, I never had much success with this method.

I have dug into several mounds located in my garden, over the years. If I couldn't find a queen, I would shovel back the earth, but, adding a layer of pure sand first. Termites are unable to build through that layer.

Before filling in the mound, you may want to leave it open for a few days. Ants will come and attack the termites.

My home in Kata was always being infested, which is why when I built my present house in Chalong, I put it on stilts so that I could see any termite trails heading up to the living area.

[Jimi007]

Firstly, termites need to live in a damp environment, which usually means in the earth.

The termites you find eating stuff in your house are foraging parties. You need to locate their mound, dig into it, find the queen and kill it.

Secondly, even if you find a mound, it may not have a queen and may be just a satellite mound. I have been told by exterminators that these satellite mounds can be hundreds of metres from the "home" mound that contains the queen.

If you can't find the mound, you can lay down a poisoned food bait that the termites take back and feed to the colony, killing them all. Frankly, I never had much success with this method.

I have dug into several mounds located in my garden, over the years. If I couldn't find a queen, I would shovel back the earth, but, adding a layer of pure sand first. Termites are unable to build through that layer.

Before filling in the mound, you may want to leave it open for a few days. Ants will come and attack the termites.

My home in Kata was always being infested, which is why when I built my present house in Chalong, I put it on stilts so that I could see any termite trails heading up to the living area.

My wife has always told me not to mess with the mounds, bad juju! My neighbor messed with one and he died about a week later, but obviously you're still okay…

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

Ps. Your photo is quite wide. Try to resize it to 800px or max 1024px so that it does not break the page layout. Currently at least my chrome does not resize the uploaded photos to fit the browser width.

Yes, interestingly, the attached photo did not appear - as they usually do - as a thumbnail. So I didn't think about resizing it.

Maybe something has changed in the forum software.

I like your photo of the mantis.

I'm usually plagued by frogs after the "night of the flying ants" or "night of the termites".

Some of them just don't know when to stop eating...

Fat Frog.jpg

Edit: And Frog poo is nothing to laugh about.

That's no frog. It's a Painted toad.

Thank you. That's not the first time I've called these Painted Toads "frogs".

This one is having a feeding frenzy amongst the termites:

[JetsetBkk]

I've had various termite problems over the years. This "tower" cheekily grew out of the hole where the termite killer liquid was pumped. Obviously not very effective termite killer:

I had this spot - also in the bedroom - that grew day by day. The darker, damp, bit is the fresh "kick-out":

But since we had "7 Pest Control" in over a year ago, the little b*ggers haven't come back.

[KarenBravo]

Had to destroy a termite mound about 30 metres from the house today.

Luckily, it was on rock-hard ground, so, they built upwards. The worst are when they find damp, soft soil and go downwards.

Glad I got it before they swarmed.