What Are These Bugs on My Bed???

June 2, 2020 11:32 PM

I live in a mobile home. Some of the bedroom wall begin to crack after a spell of intense rains followed by heat. Ants entering the space began to increase. About three weeks ago I began to notice these small bugs a little larger than ants and with wings crawling on the bed. They are there for about 2-3 hours and are gone. What can they possibly be. My first thought was that they were termites though that doesn't explain their wings
posted by goalyeehah to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

Given that you have ants, my first guess would be that they are male ants. Unlike worker ants, which are all female, male ants have wings. The male ants only emerge from their colony for a brief time in order to mate, often when the weather starts to warm.
posted by RichardP at 11:41 PM on June 2, 2020 [2 favorites]

My first thought was that they were termites though that doesn't explain their wings
Bad news, my friend.
posted by lollusc at 12:38 AM on June 3, 2020 [3 favorites]

They are probably ants or termites, both of whose mating forms both have wings (both sexes, btw, until the founding queen sheds hers).

You’re going to have to look closely. There are a few relatively easy diagnostic differences. The easiest is ants have a sharp elbow/corner in their antennae, termites do not.

Here’s how you can get a good look: get a cup and place it over the bug. Slide a piece of paper underneath (stiff junk mail cards work well). Put the whole thing in the fridge or freezer for a few hours, you can also transfer to a ziplock bag.
Then you can take your time, get out a light and maybe a magnifying glass (or your phone might magnify) to look for the key distinguishing traits.

Ants are generally pretty easy to get rid of, just buy liquid Terro bait and apply it regularly around the area. Termites are harder and may require a pro.

Obviously photos would help but if it looks sort of like a large ant with wings and many have appeared over several days in the same place after a crack appeared, the safe money is on ant or termite.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:03 AM on June 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

The easy way I identified the termites that came into my house was by catching them with a bit of clear tape. This also worked for identifying bird mites and fleas, on other occasions. If you fold the tape around them, sticky-side in, they can't escape, and you can identify them at your leisure. (Ants are narrower at the waist, termites are not.)
posted by chromium at 9:42 AM on June 3, 2020

Some species of carpenter ants have wings. They don't eat wood, but nest in rotting wood.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 10:10 AM on June 3, 2020

Termites can have wings and love to burst through walls.
posted by w0mbat at 10:29 AM on June 3, 2020

But also, depending on where in the country you’re located, it could be swarming termites, which are terribly unpleasant but less an indicator of a problem in your walls currently. If that’s the case, covering windows well at night will help them not swarm inside.
posted by Night_owl at 5:32 PM on June 3, 2020