Ants (?) with wings - large & small

[hkrause]

The last few days we've been seeing lots of flying insects that look like ants with long, narrow wings. The next morning there are just a bunch of loose wings laying around. Are these just ants, or something else? Do I need to be concerned that the loose wings are all around our doorways (inside and out)? We've sprayed around the doors with Cynoff a couple weeks ago... will that take care of them, or are they having a convention someplace inside my house?

Also, this morning we found a couple of HUGE "ants" - one with wings and one without. The one with wings is about 1 1/2" long all total, maybe 3/4" without the wings. Dark brown, and very bulky for an "ant." What ARE these things??

Heather

[Ginger]

Termites. Their nests get soaked & collapse & they swarm.

[mexbound]

What we have at our house every June after the first heavy rain is big blackish brown Ants (not termites). These ants come out of their nests to mate and then they lose their wings and die. It lasts about three days. They are all around our house this morning. Termites have long bodies that are not separated into three distinct parts like an ant's body.

[Ferret]

Keep your outside lights OFF.

[Ginger]

Check here to see which:

http://www.orkin.com/termites/flying-ants-vs-termites/

[More Liana]

The last few days we've been seeing lots of flying insects that look like ants with long, narrow wings. The next morning there are just a bunch of loose wings laying around. Are these just ants, or something else? Do I need to be concerned that the loose wings are all around our doorways (inside and out)? We've sprayed around the doors with Cynoff a couple weeks ago... will that take care of them, or are they having a convention someplace inside my house?

Also, this morning we found a couple of HUGE "ants" - one with wings and one without. The one with wings is about 1 1/2" long all total, maybe 3/4" without the wings. Dark brown, and very bulky for an "ant." What ARE these things??

Heather

Heather, about the ants: they are a particular variety that only comes out at the beginning of the rainy season. They're called chicatanas in Mexico City and points south. You'd have to ask your Mexican neighbors what they are called in your part of Mexico.

Chicatanas, with the wings removed, are delicious and are considered to be a great once-a-year delicacy. On Saturday my wife and I are going to a restaurant (http://mexicocooks.typepad.com/mexico_cooks/2013/05/restaurante-nicos-mexico-city-treasure-traditional-mexican-cuisine-family-comfort-and-warmth.html) where a salsa is made from them and you can bet I will have some. Last time I was there, it was too early in the season for them. The time is right this weekend!

[bmh]

They are called Tzintzin in Tuxtla and other names. My neighbor is from Oaxaca and she was picking them up like crazy this morning to have them for dinner. Only the tail is eaten and they are a delicacy in Oaxaca and Chiapas and a major source of protein for people who eat them. Many indigenous in Southern Mexico are anemic and the government is having a campaign for people to eat insects. They are free for the taking some make a powder after cooking them and use it on tacos some are eaten just like they come. They go for 20 pesos for a smal measure in Chiapas,..not cheap.

Ginger they are not termites they are a type of ant.

[LaChula]

They are called Tzintzin in Tuxtla and other names. My neighbor is from Oaxaca and she was picking them up like crazy this morning to have them for dinner. Only the tail is eaten and they are a delicacy in Oaxaca and Chiapas and a major source of protein for people who eat them. Many indigenous in Southern Mexico are anemic and the government is having a campaign for people to eat insects. They are free for the taking some make a powder after cooking them and use it on tacos some are eaten just like they come. They go for 20 pesos for a smal measure in Chiapas,..not cheap.

Ginger they are not termites they are a type of ant.

Every year we see some of our indigenous neighbors gathering them up. I found a few in my patio this morning, but they don't appeal to me. They are big and juicy looking, so those who like them will have a ball.

[hkrause]

Thanks, all. I'd read about the edible critters back when we were NOB, but this is the first time we've been here to see them. Interesting! Ginger, thanks for the link... I'll check the small flying ants/termites tonight since I assume they'll be back. For now, all I have are dropped wings. I'll take a closer look at the bodies when they return.

Heather

[artsnob]

The indian rug seller girls were out on the Malecon and surrounding area picking them up , They hollared at me for stepping on one...Heather you could collect them and sell them on the Plaza Saturday when you come and help p-lant..

[Joyfull]

Thanks, all. I'd read about the edible critters back when we were NOB, but this is the first time we've been here to see them. Interesting! Ginger, thanks for the link... I'll check the small flying ants/termites tonight since I assume they'll be back. For now, all I have are dropped wings. I'll take a closer look at the bodies when they return.

Heather

Heather...come on over to our house. They are all over the grass in the backyard. Cami & Wicket have been watching them all morning. You can pick them up and put them in your next batch of veggie soup.

[hkrause]

Yeah... we're gonna skip the veggie soup supplement! We're seeing them around, but I don't think I need to start a collection.

BTW, I found a few of the dead smaller flyers and they are, in fact, termites. Straight, non-segmented bodies. Not sure if there's anything we should (or can) do about them. The wings are all over, no telling where the critters have gone. House is mostly concrete, of course, but we do have wood cabinets, furniture, door frames, etc.

Heather

[Ginger]

As was said, keep your outside lights off & make sure they can't get in your windows or doors.

[hkrause]

We never have outside lights on. They were apparently drawn to lights from inside. Some have gotten into the house through screens that aren't tight. The house isn't tight enough to keep them from getting in once they've landed near doors or windows. I had several flying around my computer screen and found wings on the desk and inside floor this morning.

So, assuming they have already gotten inside, and are around the yard outside as well, I'm curious about what one should do, if anything.

[Ginger]

We got them all the time in the Caribbean. All you can do is sweep up the wings & keep the house as dark as possible after a heavy rain. The buildings there were concrete as well.

[Travis]

So far, we've only had a small amount. One year it was like a horror movie at our house, inside and out. It was a night time invasion, and I remember running through the house closing all the windows and doors and turning off all the lights. It was an enormous swarm and it was gross.

Don't do anything. They'll be gone in a couple days.

[bmh]

Travis are you talking about the enormous ones with a very round body or the large ones but smaller with an elongated body? The ones right now are the round butt ones the others come a little later and they rain on our head in the house, God knows from where and for me they are a total nightmare. The fat ones have not managed to come into the house,,,.

This morning a parked car was covered with them and I told my neighbor and she said that they were there because of the street light, she got a plastic bag full of them...several meals..

[Travis]

The "Attack of the Flying Ants!!!" horror movie scene I described above were the large, elongated ones.

Right now, we have a few of the super fatty round ones. I thought I saw a few scattered wings this morning from the longer, leaner, meaner flying ants, but maybe not. Maybe tonight's the night!

[Joyfull]

Ewwww

[bmh]

The long elongated ones those are the horror sory one last year they were raining on us, we would be watching tv and they would fall on us, fly in outr clothes, they are horrible. Where do they come from and how do you get rid off them?? We had an exterminator come twice without any effect, Those are a nightmare, at least you can eat the fat ones.

[carib]

We got them all the time in the Caribbean. All you can do is sweep up the wings & keep the house as dark as possible after a heavy rain. The buildings there were concrete as well.

I am from Puerto Rico. The long ones are termites. They come out when the rain starts, shed the wings and go into the wood and sometimes underground. Houses in Puerto Rico are all concrete, but they can go for doors, cabinet, furniture and they love untreated pine wood.

[Tangawizi]

Those big ants really don't want to be in your house. They can't survive there.

I haven't seen the smaller ones, but I saw lots of the big ones today. Some were winged and some had lost the wings already. The ones I saw were definitely female ants and yes, some locals told me they're edible so I'm sure I saw the same critters that most of you saw.

The males will also be winged, but they will be considerably smaller and with skinnier butts. The females have fat butts because those few who survive will become queen ants - the mother of a new hill. Their prime job in life is to lay eggs. Most ants are wingless infertile females - the workers, guards, etc. The ant hills produce a limited number of fertile males and females. The fertile ants are bigger than the regular workers, especially the females, and both sexes have wings. When conditions are right, all the winged males and females leave their hills and take their first and only mating flight. (Think of a huge mass wedding/group orgy.) None of them will go back home. The males, having done their job, die soon after. The females lose their wings and start looking for a place to start a new nest - in the ground, in old tree stumps, or wherever that particular species of ant makes its home. They'll lay their eggs and tend to their babies through the egg, larva and pupa stage. During this time, the mother won't have anything to eat or drink. If mother and babies survive until the young ones grow up, the offspring will take care of their mother queen and do all the work that an ant hill requires.

It's amazing how all the ant hills in very wide area send their young pioneers off at the same time. How do they know today's the day?

[Bourbonman]

What is the problem with eating them? At least they don't have blood!

[bmh]

Termites do not have a waste or 3 parts to their body the ants I am talking about that are flying around and are longer have 3 parts , they are not termites.

Termites fly too but I showed these ants to an exterminator who told me their were ants not termites.

[Ginger]

Yeah... we're gonna skip the veggie soup supplement! We're seeing them around, but I don't think I need to start a collection.

BTW, I found a few of the dead smaller flyers and they are, in fact, termites. Straight, non-segmented bodies. Not sure if there's anything we should (or can) do about them. The wings are all over, no telling where the critters have gone. House is mostly concrete, of course, but we do have wood cabinets, furniture, door frames, etc.

Heather

Sounds like what Heather has are termites, not flying ants. As I said, their nests (sometimes in trees) get soaked & break apart & the termites swarm. They go toward light.