Flying Termites!

[OnMyWay]

We had a few last night but they are triggered tonight!  Are these in other areas of the Philippines too?  We live in the middle of a rain forest and get them every year, usually after the first decent rains.

I turn the lights off but some neighbors said that if you put a basin of water out, they will go in it and die.

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

We used to get those once or twice a year on Biliran Island.  They swarm around for a day or so then they must find a place to nest as all their wings fall off and they dissappear,  until next time.  I remember running around with cans of Baygon trying to kill them buggers.  They  came in through any crack they could find, even under the door.

Good luck with them.  Seems to me they are just a nuisance.

[Old55]

Don, just be thankful your local Monkeys don't grow wings. 

[Tommy T.]

5 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

We had a few last night but they are triggered tonight!  Are these in other areas of the Philippines too?  We live in the middle of a rain forest and get them every year, usually after the first decent rains.

Yeah... they do a swarm a few times every year. I don't think it is related to rain - it is just an event that happens on their schedule.

We have had them a few times here. The "fix" seems to be to turn lights off inside the home but leave lights on outside - such as streetlights or fence post lights. They are definitely attracted to light.

After they drop their wings, they zero in on anything they can eat - particularly soft wood. So, later, look for wings. Anywhere you see wings, there is a critter nearby that may have already bored into some wood or crevice in your home. They love plywood that is old or moist or untreated.

They discovered the soft wood in a laminated spar (big sailing wood post, if you will) and ate all the holly in the teak and holly laminate. I had to replace the entire piece and it cost a fortune. Do not take them lightly!

[Dave Hounddriver]

27 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

I don't think it is related to rain

Well I thought it was related to rain so I checked with Dr Google and it seems there is some relation to rain:

 

Quote

 

Rain helps make the environment more wet, which in turn makes termite survival more likely since there is plenty of water available.

After a soaking spring or fall rain, thousands of winged reproductives may swarm from the colony seeking to mate and start new colonies. However, the rain is not the trigger for swarming so much as warm temperatures, humidity and the age of the colony itself.

 

https://www.terminix.com/blog/education/flying-termites-after-rain/

[manofthecoldland]

   We had a small, brief spat of 'em a few nights ago after some rain. I first noticed as a few tried touch 'n go's on my bare back at dinner in the open D-kitchen terrace where we have a bright overhead light.  Hmmm .... a few long winged crawlers. I had  forgotten about these guys for several years, so gave it little thought since they go to the overhead light usually.

   I think nothing of it and go upstairs to the computer. A brown out clicks all power off, so I figure since I need a shave.... why not since not else much to do and the waters still on. I snap on a headlamp and start.... Half way through I start getting swarmed. I do a quick finish and kill the light, closing the door behind me so they stay in there. 

   Sit in the dark for 30 minutes till the power is restored, using some old, fuel-less lighter's mini-lights with the 4 year old while she plays. No bugs are bothering us. When the lights come on, the wife is up and goes in to take a shower, and I tell her not to because of the bugs I trapped in there, but they're gone and never return since all the outside lights are now on. Life goes on as before.

   In 2005 while renting a house I experienced my first encounter and a visiting lady friend of the wife, filled a plastic basin with water and stood on the dinner table under the overhead light. She raised the basin overhead near the light where they were flitting and with minutes the basin was filled with floating bugs since in their flitting they touched the water which grounded them on the surface. 

   We took turns holding and passing the water trap basins up and down for 15 minutes, catching and trapping them all very quickly. Must have been many hundreds, but we eliminated them. Its more fun in the Philippines....NOT !

   In another concrete apt where we lived, 2010-12, they would periodically swarm out of the in-wall cable access outlet and start crawling up the wall.  Plastic tape over their conduit exit ended that and I'd have to re-tape the buggy death trap from time to time until their Banzai attacks ended. 

   Fortunately its only a very brief and seasonal occurrence. Just one more petty nuisance some of us have to endure from time to time, like anywhere else you choose to live. Beats dealing with snow by a long shot, IMO. 

[Tommy T.]

To be honest, Dave, I have never compared weather conditions to the timing of these irritating swarms. I know that we never had these when living in the Seattle area where carpenter ants were common. We had our home there fumigated while still under construction to prevent their possible infestation.

Your comments could very well be correct about rain being a cause of these swarms. But part of 

4 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

After a soaking spring or fall rain, thousands of winged reproductives may swarm from the colony seeking to mate and start new colonies. However, the rain is not the trigger for swarming so much as warm temperatures, humidity and the age of the colony itself.

your own quote seems to negate that a bit? Or am I reading this wrong and - as I commonly do - maybe misunderstanding it?

[Old55]

I find the NW carpenter ants will hatch after a rain here. Or maybe because it rains so often it just seems that way? 

[OnMyWay]

7 hours ago, Old55 said:

Don, just be thankful your local Monkeys don't grow wings. 

They fly through the trees fairly well!

[graham59]

2 hours ago, manofthecoldland said:

the wife, filled a plastic basin with water and stood on the dinner table under the overhead light. She raised the basin overhead near the light where they were flitting and with minutes the basin was filled with floating bugs since in their flitting they touched the water which grounded them on the surface. 

That's what we do.