A small pile of translucent wings on a windowsill, a bathroom counter, or the ledge above a light fixture means winged termites were inside your house. They shed the wings within minutes of landing, which is why homeowners find the wings long before they ever see an insect. Every September the calls to Main Sail Pest shift from ants and roaches to this one question, because western drywood termites swarm across Riverside County through the fall. Finding the wings is not an emergency. Ignoring what they tell you is.
What does a pile of discarded wings actually mean?
It means a mature termite colony released reproductives, and if the wings are inside the structure, that colony is very likely inside it too.
Winged termites, called alates or swarmers, are the reproductive caste. A colony only produces them once it has matured, which for drywood termites can take several years. They fly a short distance, drop their wings, pair off, and try to start a new colony in whatever wood they land on. All four wings are the same length and noticeably longer than the body, and they break off cleanly at the base.
Swarmers found outdoors near a porch light may have come from a neighbor’s home, a fence, or a dead tree. Swarmers found indoors, especially in the same room repeatedly, point at your own framing.
When do termites swarm here?
Western drywood termites, the most common species in inland Southern California, swarm mainly from late summer through fall, with September and October the heaviest months. Flights typically happen on warm afternoons and early evenings, often on the first warm day after a cooler stretch.
Western subterranean termites run a different calendar. They swarm during daylight hours in fall and winter, usually within a day or two after rain. If you get a swarm on a damp overcast morning in December, that is a different insect and a different treatment.
How do you tell a termite from a flying ant?
Three features settle it, and you can check them on a shed specimen with a phone camera.
- Waist: termites have a broad, straight-sided body with no pinch. Ants have an obvious narrow waist.
- Antennae: termite antennae are straight and look beaded. Ant antennae are elbowed, with a distinct bend.
- Wings: a termite’s four wings are all the same length. An ant’s front wings are clearly longer than the back pair.
Flying ants swarm here too, and the two get confused constantly. Worth knowing before you call anyone, because the answer changes what happens next entirely.
Drywood or subterranean, and why does it matter?
Drywood termites live entirely inside the wood they eat and need no soil contact. They infest attic rafters, fascia boards, eaves, window frames, patio covers, and wood fencing. Their calling card is frass, which is fecal pellets they push out through small kick-out holes. The pellets are about the size of coarse ground pepper, six-sided, and collect in neat little piles on sills, floors, or the top of a garage workbench.
Subterranean termites nest in soil and build pencil-width mud tubes up foundations, stem walls, and piers to reach wood while staying protected. Their colonies are far larger and they cause damage faster. Moisture drives them, so leaking irrigation, a failed hose bib, or grading that sends water toward the slab is often part of the story.
Drywood infestations get treated with fumigation or localized treatment depending on how widespread they are. Subterranean infestations get treated at the soil, with termiticide barriers or bait systems. A wrong identification wastes the treatment.
What does Main Sail Pest look for during a termite inspection?
We check the areas swarmers actually come from rather than just the room where the wings turned up. That means attic rafters and sheathing, the underside of eaves and fascia, garage framing, window and door frames, sill plates, the foundation perimeter for mud tubes, and any wood in contact with soil.
In California, wood-destroying organism inspection reports separate findings into two categories: active infestation or damage, and conditions that are likely to lead to infestation. That second category is the one homeowners skip, and it is usually the cheaper fix.
Can you keep it from happening again?
Not perfectly, but you can make the house a harder target.
- Keep exposed wood sealed, painted, or stained, since bare weathered wood is what swarmers land on
- Screen attic and foundation vents with fine mesh rather than leaving them open
- Keep firewood, lumber scraps, and stumps away from the house and off bare soil
- Fix irrigation overspray and leaks that keep soil against the foundation damp
- Have the structure inspected periodically rather than waiting for the next swarm
Wings on the sill in September are a schedule, not a crisis. Save a few in a bag, note which room they came from, and have Main Sail Pest inspect before the colony spends another year in your rafters.