Ants, Or Termites?

You’re standing in your kitchen cooking dinner, when suddenly you notice a bunch of tiny insects marching across your wall. This would freak anyone out! But are they ants, or are they termites? How do you tell?

Signs of Infestations:

Ants:

Long trails of insects in a single file line. Mostly found around cracks in windows, doors, or other points of entry such as electrical outlets or pipe structures. There may also be obvious nests (dirt mounds) outside near the home.

Termites:

Mud-like “tubes” across foundation walls, porch posts, etc. Dry wood that is damaged. Ants will only tunnel through wet, rotted wood to make their nests, termites will chew through all kinds of wood. Wood damage will also be accompanied by bits of dried mud along holes. The tunnels will also be ragged and uneven because of mud, unlike ant tunnels, which tend to have smoother walls.

Appearance:

Ants:

• Antennae are bent
• Obviously segmented body with a thin waist
• Front wings are longer than the back wings
• Worker ants are reddish brown

Termites:

• Antennae are straight
• Body is mostly uniform
• Wings are the same size, and twice as long as the body
• Wings break off easily
• Worker termites are white

Pests can cause real damage and be a pain to deal with no matter what kind they are. But being able to identify the type of pest you are dealing with can make it easier to know what steps you need to take to get rid of and prevent future infestations.