Flying insects which drop their wings

[Buntsa]

I could not find better forum, so here we are.

Everyone who has been living in Thailand knows these insects which, after rain normally, flies to the light and drop their wings. Die soon after.

Most people (even Thais) insist that they are termites, but I don´t buy that before someone tells me the Latin name of this species. These are at least two times longer than normal termites and have dark color, nearly black.

I´m not interested if someone tells me it´s termite or ant, that does not help anything about identifying this particular.species. I´m just tired to discuss about this again and again because nobody knows the facts what they are talking about. Want to know the truth,from some entomologist whether this is termite or something else. Latin name for family of this insect species is very welcome.

Thanks for any help!

[fey]

Could be termites.

I had an infestation and so many wings were dropping that it made a huge dust layer under the floorboards, like sand at the beach. This species were huge, not at all like a small insect. They ate out the whole floor which had to be replaced by stone tiles.

Did not really get into identifying the exact species, too busy trying to get the floor fixed.

[kannot]

tread on them they are oily (white colour) they are termites but which one I dont know, they collect and eat them

http://www.thaisabai.org/2013/08/after-rainfall-thailands-mang-mao-insects/

Edited May 11, 2015 by kannot

[arthurwait]

Wife says they are white ants. Something about changing after they lose their wings. Over 15 years I've learnt to carry a pinch of salt though.

They eat wood. It's basically the only thing that doesn't get mai bpen lai.

[kannot]

how about YOU help everyone here and post a photo of this insect?

[Scully]

There's hundreds of different types of termites, but they do sound like termite swarmers.

[Tywais]

Most likely flying termites as they are the most common 'swarms' you see here. Note the much longer wings that fall off.

How to tell the difference

[Buntsa]

how about YOU help everyone here and post a photo of this insect?

Yes, agree I should definitely post a pic. All I had went with my desk computers hard drive, so now waiting for next heavy rain in Hua Hin area. It might take a while, but I will post pic here with tape measure next to it.

P.S. We have several small wooden fences to protect part of our garden from our own dogs. Fences are not painted or varnished. These "termites" have no interest of those.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Buntsa

[ramrod45]

I believe if you look at the photos in this article http://www.termites101.org/termite-basics/colonies you will be able to tell. From the photo and the ones I've seen here (including a few that found their way under my clothes while riding) it would be swarming termites, and usually they do so after a rain. Sorry, I didn't see the Latin name but try Reticulitermes spp., Coptotermes spp. and Heterotermes spp.

[KhunBENQ]

"malaeng mao" or "maeng mao" as the family calls them ("the drunken insects") are obviously flying male termites, so called "termite kings".

All insects with wings longer than the body are categorized as "alates".

So you find them also as "termite alate" e.g. in the WiKi article (the fossile):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termite

The third paragraph in this Thai language site describes "maleng mao (alates)":

http://web.ku.ac.th/schoolnet/snet4/anatomy/bug.htm

Edited May 12, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[KhunBENQ]

The pictures show the insects that we see here occasionally.

There is a slight chance that "malaeng mao"/"maeng mao" refers to each type of insect "flying to the fire (light)".

If this is not what has been observed, provide a respective picture (a moth?).

But the observation that they loose their wings is a strong indication for flying termites.

Have fun with this article

How to tell the difference between ant and termite alates

http://flrec.ifas.ufl.edu/entomo/ants/ant%20vs%20termite.htm

Next time they appear I will do a macro photo.

Edited May 12, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[IMA_FARANG]

The pictures show the insects that we see here occasionally.

There is a slight chance that "malaeng mao"/"maeng mao" refers to each type of insect "flying to the fire (light)".

If this is not what has been observed, provide a respective picture (a moth?).

But the observation that they loose their wings is a strong indication for flying termites.

-----------------------

There are a number of species of flying "termites" and flying "Ants" or even "wasps" that use the same strategy for mating with a queen female which once mated starts a nest to raise young from her fertile eggs. One mating flight does it for a lifetime for the female

The idea is the female queen takes off, often in the wind of a storm, and the males chase after her to mate with her. Often the female flies as high as possible so only the strongest male can catch her on her Nuptial flight (that is what it is called).

The point is the male that mates with the female is the strongest male, the highest flyer.

Then usually all the males lose their wings and die off..... but the strongest male has successfully mated with the queen and her eggs have the strongest and best DNA from the strongest male who beat out all the other males.

There are many species of flying insects that use this mating strategy in South East Asia.

And you thought he bar girls on Soi Cowboy were mean..... but they are nothing compared to these flying insects.

Edited May 12, 2015 by IMA_FARANG

[The Deerhunter]

The Thais call them Malang Mau which means drunk flies. They swarm our place in the thousands. They could be some kind of termites or white ants (same thing) but they LOOK VERY MUCH like a big ant with wings and in fact will be the breeding queen & king of some variety of local ant but I do not know which one. Thailand has lots of types of ants. I do not know what a termite queen or king looks like and there are likely different types of termites. Cambodians & Isaan people eat thee Malang Mau & put out stretched white cloths, light & bowls of water to catch & drown them. They swarm from January to mid year around here, every night after it rains. Sorry no entomological name. I guess they are not the most virulent kind of termite or they would have eaten our place down by now. We get millions of them over a season.

[Tywais]

"malaeng mao" or "maeng mao" as the family calls them ("the drunken insects")

For a long time I also thought it meant 'drunken insects' due to the sound but found out that is not the case. Discussed it with a Thai friend at the university and the spelling is not the same for mao (drunk). Don't want to go too far into the Thai language aspect but the mao used in the insects name has a mai ek in it, drunk does not so it is more of a classifier.

You can see the spelling and many images here - Google images

[KhunBENQ]

Another misunderstanding done away

I could have taken the time to check the Thai spelling (which I used to search)

Edited May 12, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[Tywais]

Another misunderstanding done away

I could have taken the time to check the Thai spelling (which I used to search)

BTW, the sounds are quite different also with the mao in insect being a high falling tone. Hit the speaker icon, remove the mai ek and hit it again - Google Translate

Another odd thing and it translates to tussock moth.

[The Deerhunter]

"malaeng mao" or "maeng mao" as the family calls them ("the drunken insects")

For a long time I also thought it meant 'drunken insects' due to the sound but found out that is not the case. Discussed it with a Thai friend at the university and the spelling is not the same for mao (drunk). Don't want to go too far into the Thai language aspect but the mao used in the insects name has a mai ek in it, drunk does not so it is more of a classifier.

You can see the spelling and many images here - Google images

You may well be right but my family calls them drunken insects as they stagger and bump into the lights then fall down & crawl around as if drunk. The meaning they have from the name and my wife translated to me is "flies drunk." Possibly coincidentally similar sounding names but each used in different parts of the country. Which came first, The chicken or the egg?

[Pacificperson]

I once lived in a house with so many termites that they swarmed from the inside-out. i would open the doors and turn on the outside lights to get rid of them.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Pacificperson

[Boycie]

I heard in a bar, there's a newish species of insect like the one mentioned in the OP

It flies around for a bit before self-exploding and dies. They've named it 'Jihadi Longlegs'

[marko kok prong]

Definately Termites,they swarm from the nest on warm humid nights,very few survive,but if a male and female find harbourage in an old log or under a house they will start a new colony.

[Gecko123]

"malaeng mao" or "maeng mao" as the family calls them ("the drunken insects")

For a long time I also thought it meant 'drunken insects' due to the sound but found out that is not the case. Discussed it with a Thai friend at the university and the spelling is not the same for mao (drunk). Don't want to go too far into the Thai language aspect but the mao used in the insects name has a mai ek in it, drunk does not so it is more of a classifier.

You can see the spelling and many images here - Google images

So if this insect's name doesn't mean drunken insect, does anyone have any ideas about why this insect is called แมลงเม่า (with a mai eek)?

There's a tree called mamaow (มะเม่า) The fruit kind of looks a little bit like a termite body, but not really? I was thinking maybe this insect likes this tree for some reason (nesting, eating the leaves)?

Sorry if this is getting too geeky here, but you kind of got me curious about the origins of this insect's name?