Flying termites - The nuptial flight

 There’s no mosquito buzzing in my ear right now, just the sound of falling rain.  Those two buckets of laundry can keep soaking until the sun comes out! 

The rainy season stopped flirting with us and came in force the end of March.  I witnessed the most beautiful, amazing but also slightly annoying phenomenon.  Early in the season during the heaviest of downpours and with the right climatic conditions, I’ve learned certain termites arise from the earth and gracefully fly through the sky.  They resemble dragonflies with smaller bodies and light brown in color.  I watched from my window one afternoon as thousands took their nuptial flight, males chasing females, fluttering everywhere, somehow able to navigate the rain.  Mother Nature took over and I watched swarms of birds feast on this delicious delicacy. I was glued to the “screen”.  When the rain stopped, the few lucky surviving pairs landed, shed their wings and magically disappeared into the ground to start a new colony. I haven’t seen them since.

Now that was the second time I met these creatures.  The first time was NOT with the same appreciation.  It was late in the evening, the rain was coming down hard and I was watching a movie on my laptop (a typical evening’s entertainment).  A large brown winged creature flew in front of me.  I had never seen one before.  When it landed it got the flip-flop smash, meaning any crawling, flying, creeping insect gets smashed with my sandal. (Daddy Long Legs are exempt, for the most part) Back to my movie.  But then another fluttered by, SMASH, then another and another.  My living room was filling up. What was going on?  Where were they coming from?  With my movie paused, I started my investigation. 

All my windows and doors are closed by 7:00 pm to keep the mosquitoes at bay but my doors are not at all energy efficient, shall we say, and have gaps, especially at the bottom.  My brown lacey-winged “friends” were attracted to my lights and squeezing in under my door, under both doors.  I ran to get my spray can of DOOM, (really meant for roaches but it had to do) and sprayed the gaps with the toxic fumes.  I quickly swept the dead ones out the door then rolled up a towel and sealed the gap. The few still flying around were hunted down then I finished watching my movie in the dark.

Since that night I’ve been finding delicate brown wings turn up in random places throughout my house.  I’ve apologized to Mother Nature for spraying DOOM all over her beautiful creatures. She has forgiven me by sending rainbows and sunsets.  I know, that’s a bit over the top, but it’s true.  Uganda is a breathtakingly beautiful country; no movie can compare to the live action adventure Mother Nature provides everyday. 

Just keep the bugs outside please!