Ants can create swarmers

Heather Erskine Patterson

We all know termites create swarmers, but some new to the industry may be surprised to learn that ants create swarmers, too. This can complicate identification, because typically these nuptial flights, depending on your location, can overlap and occur around the same time of the year — late spring or early summer, for instance. Swarming events often are triggered by environmental cues such as temperature, humidity or length of day; they can be an indicator of an infestation. Luckily, learning to distinguish ants from termites is usually a skill pest management professionals (PMPs) learn early on in their training.

Following a mating swarm, the male ant’s job is done, and the newly mated female ant removes her wings and takes off in search of a good place to call home to start her colony. The ant male is not gifted the lifelong role as “king,” like the termite. So, in the case of ants… it’s good to be the queen.