Anyone know what kind of insect this is?

[Kalle91]

Hello!

Came home to a small swarm of these insects today in the living room. They seem to come from behind a baseboard. Often many ants around them. Does anyone know what they are?

 

[Karlia]

Isn't it a flying ant? Time for them now.

 

[crazytok]

Flying ant?

 

[MariaiÖstergötland]

Flying ant?

Ants swarming?

 

[Kalle91]

Is there something in particular that attracts flying ants? There were at least about 100 in the living room today. I had a few ants on the floor yesterday that I vacuumed up, and I was shocked to see that there were so many. Many had positioned themselves against the window as if they wanted to get out.

 

[GoC]

They probably live nearby.
Maybe behind the skirting board?

 

[crazytok]

Or you've had eggs that just hatched, and that's why so many want to come out at the same time...

 

[Karlia]

You probably have an anthill nearby.

 

[MariaiÖstergötland]

Seems like there are a lot of ants this year? Everywhere along flower beds and curbs it's full of these "earth mounds" full of tunnels. Is it because of the mild winter?

 

[crazytok]

Yep, we have had an extremely large amount of ants this year as well. However, not flying ants..

 

[cpalm]

Is there something specific that attracts flying ants?

The flying ants are "just" a winged variant of regular ants. Once a year, at seemingly a given signal, they leave the colony to swarm, then they pour out by the thousands wanting to fly (of course). Then they disappear just as quickly as they appeared.

 

[Myckling]

Heard on the news the other day that French meteorologists had spotted huge rain clouds on satellite images, but it turned out to be swarms of flying ants. One cloud was apparently 80 km long.

 

[Kalle91]

Thanks for the replies everyone!
I vacuumed them away in two rounds... haven't come back yet... we'll see how it goes