Is this a termite or an ant

Question: In the last day i have found a couple (three or four) of these crawling (not flying) in one room in my house.  Before proceeding to call a pest control company I would like to know if these are termites, or some type of flying ant.  I managed to brush one off a table and into a plastic bag so that I could take photos of it.   If these photos are not clear enough please let me know and I will try to release it an capture photos of it.  

Thanks for your help.

responder: The Question Asker Replied March 24, 2023, 12:34 PM EDT
response: I forgot to mention that the length of this insect is approximately 1 cm long.

responder: Answered by theHome and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied March 24, 2023, 1:00 PM EDT
response: We think that those look like winged ants. We don't think that you need to call an exterminator.  Ants are a natural part of the outdoors but they do sometimes come in. You can use a non-toxic gel bait containing boric acid available at hardware and grocery stores. Allowing them to eat it undisturbed for a couple of days and they will carry it back to the nest and feed it to others, killing them. Often you can watch them follow invisible chemical trails, stopping and grooming/feeding each other along the way.  If/when you can see where they are coming in, you can also caulk along window edges, areas where utilities come into the house, (or from an adjoining home), and where the foundation meets the walls. You can learn more here:  https://extension.umd.edu/resource/ants-indoor-insects   Christine

responder: The Question Asker Replied March 24, 2023, 3:45 PM EDT
response: Christine,    Thanks so much for response.  I did notice that both wings appeared to be of the same length which according to resources that I found online indicated that was a characteristic of termites. That obviously concerned me.  But if you are pretty sure that it is a winged ant and not a termite, that is certainly good news.  I appreciate your advice on the non-toxic get bait which I will get.     And thanks for such a prompt response!    Bruce

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied March 24, 2023, 4:29 PM EDT
response: Hello Bruce,  It's hard to clearly see all of the insect's wings in the photos, although you can certainly explore this in more detail with one in-hand. Termite wings are essentially exactly the same length between the first pair and the second pair, whereas ant wings will differ a bit with the front pair being larger/longer. A more easy-to-see trait is the antennae, since ant antennae "elbow" into a sharper bend than termite antennae can.  Bear in mind that bait will only work on colony worker-caste members, if they are present and forging inside the home, and not on reproductive individuals. (Only reproductive members of ant and termite colonies bear wings, plus they tend to be larger-bodied than their nestmates. Workers are wingless.) This is because reproductive colony members are not foraging for food to bring back to the nest (how baits work); they are not present in the nest year-round and when they do occur their only goal is to find mates and then find a potential nest site for their future daughters. (If the insect is female, anyway; the males die after mating and don't rejoin the nest.) Meanwhile, the wingless workers are kicking the reproductive individuals out of the colony and are still foraging for food to return with to share with their nestmates, so these are the targets of bait stations. (As a more minor issue, it's also possible the larger-bodied reproductive individuals won't fit into a bait station.)  These isolated individuals that you've found so far might be lone ants wandering around either after mating (likely outside) or from a colony that is not nesting in the house where they wandered-in by accident. When reproductive ants "swarm" there are unmistakable numbers of winged ants actively walking and flying around trying to find mates, so if a colony inside the home is reproducing, there will often be little doubt, assuming the winged members are not completely contained behind walls or within floors. Since any damage done by these ants is not rapid, you have time to decide if any baits are needed and to see if you can determine where the ants are entering the living space. Potentially, some gaps/cracks in window screening, door weather-stripping, or walls might be the only thing that needs addressing to seal-out insect access. If you do see some workers wandering about and don't see where they're coming from, then bait would be a practical next step.  Miri