Are these Flying Termites in my house?!!!!!!

[shipps]

Recently I had a sudden swarm of flying insects come from the back of my fridge in our home. To me it was bizarre because it started with just a few of them on the wall to a thousand within minutes. I noticed they were coming from behind the fridge which is nestled between cabinets. When I moved the fridge out it looked like a bee-hive, just with these fruit flies. It was crazy and I am not even really squeamish when its comes to insects at all. The whole kitchen was swarmed within about 15 minutes. I was spraying them and they were dying fast they didn't appear to have much will to live. By the hour mark they were basically all dead and I swept them into a couple piles six inches high (not exaggerating). 

As my wife and I both were confused as to what type of insect they were and how such a dramatic infestation would come and go so rapidly we searched the internet. My wife was blaming the mothers day flowers I got her and anything else that could have lead to it being my fault somehow LOL. But ultimately we had concern that these were in fact flying termites which would be a big deal because that would indicate the house has a huge termite infestation. The wings and antenna seemed to be exactly what you would see on a flying termite. The rapid death seemed to fit the bill. So we called out a pest control guy the next day. 

The thing is that after he inspected the home and the dead insects he insists its not a termite because of how it looks (from the internet it looks exactly like what many resources say are a flying termite). He said that its some sort of flying ant. Plus he said that you would an indication of wood dust/damaged wood which he did not see. 

This was good news to us but the problem is, I am not going crazy (at least I don't think I am) that these things look exactly what a flying termite is supposed to look like. It was a swarm. They died fast. Its an old home. 

What do you guys think? Did the pest control guy possibly get it wrong? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Texsox]

There is a slim chance the termite guy turned down a chance to pick up a couple thousand dollar termite case. But that little bit of doubt would have me do one of two things. 

Send one to your country extension office. Most places I've lived have experts to identify pests and stuff. Alternately if you have a university close by find out who the expert is.

Second route is a second opinion from a different pest control company. 

I found this article interesting https://www.bigtimepestcontrol.com/blog/difference-flying-ants-termites 

I could tell from the picture but the ones in the cup look like they gave pinched down body sections making flying ants the more likely culprit.

Either way you hosted an insect orgy with thousands of participants than when they were all getting laid you interrupted and killed them. I'd be worried that some sort of sex karma is going to get you. 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Texsox

[shipps]

2 hours ago, Texsox said:

There is a slim chance the termite guy turned down a chance to pick up a couple thousand dollar termite case. But that little bit of doubt would have me do one of two things. 

Send one to your country extension office. Most places I've lived have experts to identify pests and stuff. Alternately if you have a university close by find out who the expert is.

Second route is a second opinion from a different pest control company. 

I found this article interesting https://www.bigtimepestcontrol.com/blog/difference-flying-ants-termites 

I could tell from the picture but the ones in the cup look like they gave pinched down body sections making flying ants the more likely culprit.

Either way you hosted an insect orgy with thousands of participants than when they were all getting laid you interrupted and killed them. I'd be worried that some sort of sex karma is going to get you. 

 

 

LOL thanks Tex. Actually, its hard to tell in the picture but they really don't have a pinched down body sections which was another big reason why we were questioning the pest control dudes analysis as to why it wasnt a flying termite. 

We are going to have another company come out just to be sure. My wife is convinced that they are termites. I do not see any evidence throughout the house though of actual termite damage. I have inspected all the wood in the basement and everywhere else that I could actually get to and I dont see any evidence of wood that is damaged or weak. Its all solid. So I am still dumbfounded. 

 

[Kyyle23]

When I was in college I came home for spring break once and one night I woke up at like 2 am and there was what looked like an ant waterfall coming out of my windowsill.  It was carpenter ants that had destroyed the wood in the windowsill, and the new females were all getting ready to leave the nest and make their own and just happened to burrow into the house instead of back outside.  
 

it was a creepy night!  They sounded like rice crispies I will never forget that sound lol 

[shipps]

36 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

When I was in college I came home for spring break once and one night I woke up at like 2 am and there was what looked like an ant waterfall coming out of my windowsill.  It was carpenter ants that had destroyed the wood in the windowsill, and the new females were all getting ready to leave the nest and make their own and just happened to burrow into the house instead of back outside.  
 

it was a creepy night!  They sounded like rice crispies I will never forget that sound lol 

omg that sound part you are describing gave me goosebumps kyle. LOL

[Texsox]

2 hours ago, Kyyle23 said:

When I was in college I came home for spring break once and one night I woke up at like 2 am and there was what looked like an ant waterfall coming out of my windowsill.  It was carpenter ants that had destroyed the wood in the windowsill, and the new females were all getting ready to leave the nest and make their own and just happened to burrow into the house instead of back outside.  
 

it was a creepy night!  They sounded like rice crispies I will never forget that sound lol 

Damn you Stephen King taking over his account.

[Kyyle23]

2 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Damn you Stephen King taking over his account.

The scariest part was waking my dad Up at 2 am to let him know ? 

[Texsox]

6 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

The scariest part was waking my dad Up at 2 am to let him know ? 

Let him know you were leaving? Lol

[Kyyle23]

6 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Let him know you were leaving? Lol

Oh right like I had a place to go ? 

[Texsox]

40 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

Oh right like I had a place to go ? 

As much backpacking and camping that I've done massive numbers of insects while I'm sleeping is the stuff of nightmares.

[shipps]

So, update is that we had another company come out and check and they were able to confirm that they are in fact termites. They were able to identify where they are located and it seems like they are pretty isolated to a spot on our outside porch stairs and a some of the house wood that can be seen in the basement. Its really hard to tell without a trained eye. 

We haven't gotten an estimate yet but hopefully it won't be too much damage to my check book!

[Texsox]

2 hours ago, shipps said:

So, update is that we had another company come out and check and they were able to confirm that they are in fact termites. They were able to identify where they are located and it seems like they are pretty isolated to a spot on our outside porch stairs and a some of the house wood that can be seen in the basement. Its really hard to tell without a trained eye. 

We haven't gotten an estimate yet but hopefully it won't be too much damage to my check book!

Crazy how one company can be so incompetent to misidentify that badly.

[Chisoxfn]

29 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Crazy how one company can be so incompetent to misidentify that badly.

I would still be worried that this new company heard are you sure it isn’t termites and they said of course they are (why not). That said I am sure you just want these bugs out of your house - regardless of what they are. 

[shipps]

30 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Crazy how one company can be so incompetent to misidentify that badly.

 

Just now, Chisoxfn said:

I would still be worried that this new company heard are you sure it isn’t termites and they said of course they are (why not). That said I am sure you just want these bugs out of your house - regardless of what they are. 

Yeah, we thought about that as well. My wife actually talked with the owner of this first company and he came out personally to investigate. He admitted that his guy got it wrong, they are termites and he refunded our money from the first inspection. Pretty crazy that they would make such a huge mistake. YOU HAD ONE JOB BRO!

 

[Chisoxfn]

16 minutes ago, shipps said:

 

Yeah, we thought about that as well. My wife actually talked with the owner of this first company and he came out personally to investigate. He admitted that his guy got it wrong, they are termites and he refunded our money from the first inspection. Pretty crazy that they would make such a huge mistake. YOU HAD ONE JOB BRO!

 

That at least makes you feel better - now you have 2 companies telling you it. But yeah - totally crazy for a termite guy to miss the fact that they were termites. At least it seems confined to a small area - so you are catching early (*fingers crossed*).  

[Texsox]

I have Terminix regularly treating for pests, their termite team is totally separate. 

[Texsox]

@shipps did they get them all?

[shipps]

2 hours ago, Texsox said:

@shipps did they get them all?

They are coming out this week to treat the effected areas and then spray around the perimeter of the house. We are out a couple grand but hopefully it will stop the problem now before it becomes too bad. My wife has obsessed about it since it was discovered so these dudes cant get out here soon enough as far as I am concerned.