Q&A for How to Kill Flying Ants

First, seal all possible entry points in your house to prevent flying ants from re-entering. Next, check for a colony inside your home. If you find one, you can eliminate it by pouring boiling water on the colony. If there is no colony, simply seal the entry points and open your windows to let the flying ants out.

A professional exterminator. I've tried on my own and can't get rid of them.

Google "the difference between..." and you can find a couple of good images, but basically, the wings of a termite are quite a bit longer than the body, the wings are all about the same length, the antennae are straight, and the body of a termite is longer and thicker. The ant has wings shorter or the same length as his body with his wings being a couple different lengths instead of all the same length, and his body is two parts, so it looks like he has a waist. Also, his antennae are bent, or elbowed.

Lay down some natural ant killers, like peppermint oil, in small cracks and crevices. Overnight, leave a jar countaining a small amount of jelly/jam, and put it in a place near to the source of the ants where you do not mind ants crawling. The ants will become stuck fast, but more ants will enter the jar anyway. It's a fast way of catching up to 50 ants at a time without touching the colony.

Dr. Bronner's peppermint hemp soap in spray bottle. Peppermint kills 'em. This soap is also good to deter certain other insects, rodents and raccoons, and is non-toxic.

Flying ants have wings, but otherwise look just like normal ants. You will probably find them out of the nest because they are mating.

Combine white vinegar, oil and water in a watering can and sprinkle it over the affected area.

Yes, you can. If another colony moves in then you can get more flying ants. Try getting an exterminator to help you with the problem.

Like small regular ants, but with wings.

Some grocery stores may carry them, or even special herbal stores or natural-product stores. You can also order it online from many places, like Amazon.

Use a bug spray that is formulated for flying ants.

It may, but your safest bet of killing them without harming your plants is peppermint oil.

If the house is abandoned there probably isn't much you can do. If it is cleaned thoroughly and a pesticide is put out it will help.

No, but they can lay their eggs in your clothes. If this happens, you could risk bringing the ants into your home and having an infestation. To combat this problem, if you find a flying ant nest in your garden, bring any washing that is drying on the line inside.

Not really. They are too small to do any damage to your home. However, if the ants find any small cracks in your kettle or coffee machine, it could stop working if they infest it.

The most common type of flying ant is the black garden variety, whose nests have a single queen and anything from 5,000 to 15,000 workers. Workers are the ants you see during most of the year, collecting food. While workers, who are all female, live for around a month, queens can live for over 10 years.