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Strange insect trouble
Greetings,
I'm looking for info/help about a strange insect problem I've suddenly got for some reason. My bedroom in my apartment (but not other rooms) seems to be infested with a small flying insect that will literally remove it's wings and then crawl around the place, when they are without their wings they actually look like small worms. They seem to be attracted to clothing and/or wood products...I believe the name of this critter is "hormigas de alas" (may not be correct spelling)...can anybody shed some light on how to avoid and/or get rid of these things? HELP!!!
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 Originally Posted by SH6811
Greetings,
I'm looking for info/help about a strange insect problem I've suddenly got for some reason. My bedroom in my apartment (but not other rooms) seems to be infested with a small flying insect that will literally remove it's wings and then crawl around the place, when they are without their wings they actually look like small worms. They seem to be attracted to clothing and/or wood products...I believe the name of this critter is "hormigas de alas" (may not be correct spelling)...can anybody shed some light on how to avoid and/or get rid of these things? HELP!!!
Are they black? You describe them as flying ants and maybe they are carpenter ants? Some carpenter ants have wings when they are older and they are trying to fly to another area from the original colony to start a new colony. They will be most prevalent in a room or area where there is damp wood because they are like termites and they eat wood.
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They are black however they definitely do not have body types (segmented) like ants do...they resemble little worms. They may be eating wood because I do have "wood dust" but that could be from termites. They seem more attracted to cloth type items like clothes, shoe soles, the drapes on the windows...I've been told they normally appear after rains but here (Sosua) there hasn't been much lately except a little bit on Saturday.
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These are very much like termites and nearly always come out after a rain shower, in particular at night. As far as I know it is only the females that can fly. The only way you can deter there from entering your house at night is by turning off the lights as they are strongly attracted to light. This has happened to me several times and I have had hundreds of the buggers in my house. Now I turn the lights off and I have very little problems with them. Mi esposa thinks I am a psycotic each time they have come inside as I run around the house for about an hour with a tea towel swatting the buggers and nuking them with spray...problem is that it takes me forever to clean up as the freakin' wings go all over the place!! Mi esposa won't get off her ass to help as she always says that it is me that made the mess...sometimes I feel like nuking mi esposa as swatting her with a tea towel seems to have little effect!!
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That sounds like me last night, and unfortunately probably again tonight. I figure I killed 100-200 of them last night and got a grand total of about 1 hour of sleep.
You are correct it is only a "nightime thing"...they do not appear during the day. One difference I see however is that they seem to be a problem for me even when the light is off...I'm not noticing a difference in their appearence if the lights are off...I thought of that last night. It may, however be the light in the hallway outside my bedroom (my esposa wants a light on at night for her to be able to sleep)...I'll try to talk her out of it tonight and see if that makes a difference. You're also correct about the wings, I've got tons of them lying around after a nightly visit.
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tee, Too funny.
Mi esposa won't get off her ass to help as she always says that it is me that made the mess...sometimes I feel like nuking mi esposa as swatting her with a tea towel seems to have little effect!!
Thanks for the laugh. Sorry I can't help you with your problem.
Mack.
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I used to have similar problems with these creatures but now no longer chase them with rolled-up newspapers, or towels and certainly not with toxic sprays (more harmful to the sprayer than the sprayed..) I just get out the vacuum cleaner which deals with them in seconds..........loose wings and all
Bryan
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"Mie Esposa" is right in her behavior,
don't waste your time to run after them to kill 'em aso aso.
most sprays do not show much affect on them anyways.
they are the rain ants, they fly around usually after rain and loose their wings, those fine light wings are a p.i.t.a. to get rid of b/c they are so light, flying around with every air movement, ha ha.
the rain ants are not any danger, but they bite, and they nite hard, bites are dry ones, means no poison, but they do it strong, can drive you crazy if you have one under your shirt and don't get it out right away.
to prevent to get 'em into the house you have to close windows and doors after rain on the side of the house where the wind comes from, they are not good flyers, they could not go against it, so they just drift with the wind's direction. next morning they are all gone, they don't stay at your place, they just got stranded there, ha ha
Mike
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hey Bryan,
yes, for the lost wings the vacuum cleaner is a good solution
Mike
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A Gift From Heaven
 Originally Posted by MikeFisher
yes, for the lost wings the vacuum cleaner is a good solution
Yes, indeed.
But the succulent ants should not be wasted.
When fried in oil (with much salt), they are crunchy, tasty and a very good source of protein.
People in East Africa eat them raw even...
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