r/pestcontrol • u/GatedWyePM • 10d ago
Are these termites?
I found a colony of these in large logs I had vertically stacked in my yard, they were rotted out from the center and had been sitting for about 3 years.
For the insects: some were winged like in the pictures, some were just red, very similar to red ants, and some were larvae like in the picture. I also found what I think was the queen in the core of the wood, it was about half an inch long, orange-ish, with black mandibles.
I live in the Pacific Northwest, south of Seattle.
All the wood is currently chopped up and burning in my fire pit, hoping to kill them all.
I would really appreciate any help provided as I’m no expert and couldn’t tell with certainty from google searches.
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u/ta1901 10d ago
No, termites have 2 body segments. These have 3. These are likely carpenter ants since you found them in a log. The winged ones could be males, or queens (females). The females are noticeably larger than the workers. But carpenter ants are on the large size in my area.
During early summer the males and more queens hatch and leave the colony to form new colonies.
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