Termites or ants? How to tell before you call
Half the termite calls we get are ants, and a few of the ant calls are termites. The difference matters, because the treatments are nothing alike.
The two get mixed up because they turn up in the same places, along a wall, under a sink, around a door frame, and because the flying versions look alike from a distance. But they are different animals with different habits, and the treatment for one does nothing to the other.
Look at the body
A termite (anay) is pale, almost translucent, soft, and the same width all the way down; there is no waist. Its antennae are straight. An ant is darker and hard-bodied, pinched in the middle like an hourglass, with elbowed antennae. If you can see the insect clearly, the waist settles it.
Look at the wings
Both swarm after rain. A termite swarmer's four wings are all the same length, longer than its body, and they drop off easily, so a pile of identical wings on a windowsill is the classic termite sign. An ant's front wings are longer than the back pair, and they stay on.
Look at what they leave behind
Termites hide. You see the evidence before you see them: mud tubes running up a wall or a post, wood that sounds hollow when you tap it, paint that bubbles, doors that suddenly stick. Ants walk in the open in a line, and the trail leads somewhere.
What to do either way
Take a photo and send it with your quote request. If it is ants, the job is usually a single visit. If it is termites, do not spray them yourself: it scatters the colony and makes the real treatment harder. Leave the tubes where they are and let us see them. Termite work is on the termite control page.