Flying ants can be an inconvenience in your home and garden especially when you want to enjoy the summer weather outside.
If you’ve seen flying ants outside, you might be wondering how to stop them from getting indoors and wreaking havoc.
To help you out, pest control company Rentokil has shared some advice so you don’t have to deal with the pests inside your home.
At the end of summer each year, there’s a day dedicated to the flying insects called Flying Ant Day and this can actually go on for weeks rather than just one day.
How to get rid of these common garden pests
Rentokil explains that “temperature variations across the UK will affect colonies at different times.”
It adds: “During this period you may have noticed an increase in activity from winged ants around your home and business.”
What are flying ants?
Rentokil says: “Often referred to as alates, flying ants are the fertile male and female ants whose sole purpose is to leave the nest to reproduce and start a new colony.
“This happens in the form of swarms where flying ants from multiple colonies conjoin to breed mid-air.”
How to keep flying ants out of your home
Open windows and doors are the perfect opportunity for flying ants to enter your house and Rentokil explains that “depending on the species, they can pose a huge threat to your property.”
Flying ants can enter your house through cracks and crevices (Image: Getty)
Carpenter ants who like to build nests inside timber are known for causing damage to wooden structures.
If you’ve got cracks in walls or roofs, carpenter ants will take this as an invitation to gain access to your home.
Recommended reading:
- Homeowners are being urged to try this 5p test to keep rats and mice away
- Should you open or close your windows during a heatwave? Expert settles debate
- 8 ways you can keep slugs off your plants without harming them
There are a few ways you can prevent flying ants from getting in your home including by sealing any cracks or crevices that they could enter.
Try to keep windows and doors shut to keep them out or you could try putting a fly screen up so you can keep windows and doors open.
If you’re still struggling to keep the flying ants at bay and out of your home, you can get in touch with a professional pest control company to help solve the problem.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here