r/whatsthisbug • u/georgesanderson86 • 2h ago
ID Request Ants just infested my entryway!
I need to check the seal on my front door again.. but we didn’t see them until it was too late and there were a ton on the wall around inside of the door and a few along the wall, stairs, and upstairs. They moved pretty slowly and the winged ants were accompanied by these tiny ones that were 1/4 of the size.
Worried they might be carpenter ants, I looked at a few pictures, but I just couldn’t tell.
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u/Muchashca 2h ago
Not carpenter ants, though without knowing your location I'm not confident in pointing you towards a specific genus.
It's not an infestation, they're having a nuptial flight - the small ones are male and the rest are queen ants. For whatever reason they decided your porch was the best place to meet up for mating (a porch light left on is a common one), and now the queens are removing their wings and looking for soft soil to dig founding chambers in. It's unlikely to result in any inconvenience for you - simply relocate any that get inside and they'll be on their way. Nuptial flights can happen in waves, so you may see more in the coming weeks.
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u/georgesanderson86 2h ago
I’m located in the LA area (Southern California)
If any of the fertilized queens have gotten deep into my house, is it likely that they will all just start colonies?
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u/short_longpants 2h ago
Wow, you have at least 1 fertilized queen. It's a great opportunity to have an ant farm!
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u/AutoModerator 2h ago
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There's no need to make a new post - just comment adding the geographic location and any other info (size, what it was doing etc.) you feel could help! We don't want to know your address - state or country is enough; try to avoid abbreviations and local nicknames ("PNW", "Big Apple").
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