Flying termites – What are they and should you be concerned?

“Do termites fly?” is a common question we get. Whilst not all termites fly, there are flying termites and if you spot flying termite around your house in Sydney, then yes, you should be concerned?

What are flying termites?

Flying termites, also called alates are the new kings and queens that leave the nest to find a partner and start a new colony. These reproductive termites are only produced in large, mature nests – typically 5 years or older.

These alates leave the nest in large numbers in a mating flight. The kings and queens fall to the ground, shed their wings and pair up. The reproductive pairs then crawl off to try and find a suitable location to start a new nest.

When do flying termites swarm?

The alates emerge from nests in a co-ordinated swarming event, on warm, humid nights. In Sydney, the peak termite swarming events occur in October and November. Often nests of the same species in the surrounding area all release their alates at the same time, so that it increases the chance of kings and queens from different colonies meeting up. Different termite species may require slightly different conditions to trigger their swarming event, but typically in Sydney they all occur in Spring and early Summer.

Flying termites or Flying ants?

Flying ants will often also swarm during Spring and Summer during the same weather conditions. Whereas it is pretty easy to tell the difference between worker termites and worker ants, telling the difference between flying ants and flying termites is more difficult. Colour is not the best way to tell the difference – although flying termites are a brown colour, flying ants can be either brown or black, depending on the species. The three main ways to tell the difference is by looking at the antennae, wings and their “waist”.

• The antennae on termites are straight, the antennae on ants have an obvious elbow.
• Termites have two pairs of wings of the same size, ants have two pairs of wings of different lengths
• Ants have an obvious waist, termites less so

If you have flying termites, what should you do?

If you have flying termites flying around lights outside (or inside!) your home during the evening, it means there is a large termite nest nearby and maybe even in or under you house! At the very least your house is under threat from potential termite attack, but the termites could be could already causing significant damage. It’s important that you phone your pest control company for a termite pest inspection immediately. Of course if you’ve had a termite treatment to protect your home from termite attack, you should be safe, but it’s still best to have a inspection to be sure.

Don’t forget, if the termites swarm during the night, you may not see the flying termites, but you may see a pile of shed wings on the ground or on windowsills when you get up in the morning.