The verdict is not in. Cruising for mates Ants, including carpenter ants, swarm in the spring, just about this time. They develop wings, and cruise around looking for mates, making babies to establish new colonies in your house. If you see flying ants in your house, call an exterminator. The other insect coming out of dormancy after spending the winter in the ground is the dreaded termite, related to cockroaches and eater of whole houses, or so it seems.
Termites are one of the very few insects that actually eat the wood.
They nest in the ground and go into your house several times a day - for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Because they eat the wood from inside out, they can be undetectable until the beams are so weakened that you fall through the floor. It may not come to that, but if you suspect termites, call an exterminator. Termite control is often easier than controlling carpenter ants because exterminators can get to them in the ground or in the wood and take steps to keep them out. There are many ways to do this, including a relatively new treatment called Sentricon, which is a series of baits put in the ground to attract, then poison, termites.