At first glance, you may struggle to determine if you’ve found flying ants, also known as carpenter ants ... as six legs and similar coloration with black/brown bodies. Look a little closer ...

“While black carpenter ants are common ... fastest way to tell the difference between a winged termite and a winged ant," she says. Termites have broad black bodies without a defined waist.

Flying ants are known as alates. In the UK, particularly in urban areas, the winged insects you see are almost always the sexually mature queens and males of the black garden ant, Lasius niger. The ...