With rotting damp wood that is normally found near the roof penetration your attic offers sustenance to carpenter ants.
Flying ants in attic.
In fact these ants behave according to the temperature humidity and the speed of the wind.
Whenever these conditions are favorable.
While it would be unusual to have an entire colony in your attic it is not unheard of.
It s highly unlikely ants will bite or sting you while they re flying so don t run headlong into any mating swarms and you should be fine.
Flying ants do not bite and they pose no danger to humans.
Ants will build nests where ever they can find a suitable area to do so.
If the ant species stings like fire ants do the winged fire ants can still do the same.
The good news here is that the ants are visible to you and they are still going outdoors to forage which means they will walk through areas that that you treat outdoors.
Female flying ants are bigger than males.
The vent pipes skylights and chimneys are areas ants can thrive building their nest from the wood available.
Flying ants can be seen out in the open and nest in wood in which they tunnel.
It s important to note that the carpenter ants do not eat wood but are attracted to damp wood.
The bigger ones are the queens they re up to 15mm in length.
However it is not essential that flying ants in your house would appear after rains only.
A vacuum is probably the easiest way to quickly remove a large swarm of flying ants.
When flying ants emerge in a swarm it is for the purpose of mating.
You ll see that some of the winged ants are much larger than others.
This is because ants only fly or even have wings when they are getting ready to breed.
They are most commonly found nesting in wet damp and or rotting wood but may also be present in dry wood.
Identify the right insect by looking for key features.
Seeing flying ants in your home is never a good sign but having these winged ants in your home in the winter is especially problematic.
Simply suck the pests up with a handheld or full sized vacuum and then immediately replace the vacuum bag.
This is sometimes referred to as hilltopping.
The flying ants form various colonies then swarm around certain places in the area usually a place of slightly higher elevation such as a hill tree or roof.
Mating typically takes place within a single day.
If you spot a cluster of flying red ants or a full blown flying ant infestation the first thing you ll want to do is repair or replace the rotted wood.
Brave enough to take a closer look.
If the ant species bites like a carpenter ant the winged carpenter ants can still bite if they feel threatened.
