[Ian Williams]

What a mare just been outside for a ciggie in the g/f`s back garden and they are everywhere, landing on me, nipping me, they are all over the place not just my garden.

There are also flocks of birds mainly swallows and swifts circling around overhead, presumably picking them off, was going to have a can of cider and enjoy the  warm sunshine. Fat chance! 

[rosskesava]

Only seen a few wandering along the pavements.... so far.

Last year the school over the road from where I live sent all the kids home early because of a so called 'infestation' of flying ants.

[Brian S]

[y] Hi Ian,

Yep, same here in East Devarn  [^]

still, on the plus side, it gives the Gulls', Turns' and Swallows' something to do today instead of picking on the locals and tourists alike :o    do what I did, put on a brimmed hat, grab a cold bottle of beer and enjoy the feast!  packed full of protein are them ants [y]

Cheers [beer]

 

[Ian Williams]

Quote

Brian S - 26/7/2011 15:40

[y] Hi Ian,

Yep, same here in East Devarn  [^]

still, on the plus side, it gives the Gulls', Turns' and Swallows' something to do today instead of picking on the locals and tourists alike :o    do what I did, put on a brimmed hat, grab a cold bottle of beer and enjoy the feast!  packed full of protein are them ants [y]

Cheers [beer]

 

lol, OK am going back outside, cracking open an ice cold Strongbow, sod the blighters!  [hehe]

[Brian S]

Thats the spirit  :-)     

[Halo]

I almost thought it was quiet then noticed hundreds of agitated black ants on the path near the wall. Several winged ants are slowly emerging through holes. I shouldn't worry. They're more interested in having a massive (or should that be gi-ant) mid-air one night stand.

[Ian Williams]

Back in, Not too bad now a strongish southerly sea breeze has developed many of them are now on the ground. Have been reading up on these critters apparently they normally swarm for 2 or 3 hours to mate with all the queens the males then die, the queens land on the ground and tear their wings off, which there are loads of evident now on the ground and they then find somewhere to hibernate for the coming winter.

Quite interesting really. A few have fallen foul in spiders webs too.

http://www.kirklees....ionsheetpcd.pdf

Flying ants may become a nuisance in July/August, when the reproductive winged males and females swarm during mating. These swarms - although they can be spectacular - actually only last for 2 to 3 hours. Mating takes place in the air, after which the males die off and the fertilised females (queen ants) shed their wings and find a place to stay for the winter, eventually laying eggs to start a new colony in the following spring. Ant larvae hatch in 3 to 4 weeks, being fed by the queen until they pupate. The first worker ants then emerge to complete the life cycle.

http://en.wikipedia..../Nuptial_flight

After the flight
Young queen beginning to dig a new colony

The males usually die very soon after mating. The young mated queens land and, in the case of ants, remove their wings. They then attempt to found a new colony. The details of this vary from species to species, but typically involve the excavation of the colony's first chamber and the subsequent laying of eggs. From this point the queen continuously lays eggs which hatch into larvae, exclusively destined to develop into worker ants.[2] The queen usually nurses the first brood alone. After the first workers appear, the queen becomes strictly an egg-laying machine. For an example of a colony founding process, see Atta sexdens.

The young queens have an extremely high failure rate. During its lifetime a very large ant colony can send out millions of virgin queens. Assuming that the total number of ant colonies in the area remains constant, on average only one of these queens will succeed. The rest are destroyed by predators (most notably other ants), environmental hazards or failures in raising the first brood at various stages of the process. This strict selection ensures that the queen has to be both extremely fit and extremely lucky to pass on her genes to the next generation.

[Brian S]

Thanks for taking the time to get the info [y]

One thing I can verify is the height they fly up to!  I can see swarms of gorging sea birds all over the estuary and bay from here - not too surprising seeing they are up at 600-ish feet (approx 183m) and doing very nicely thank you  [s]

[Ian Williams]

Quote

Brian S - 26/7/2011 16:53

Thanks for taking the time to get the info [y]

One thing I can verify is the height they fly up to!  I can see swarms of gorging sea birds all over the estuary and bay from here - not too surprising seeing they are up at 600-ish feet (approx 183m) and doing very nicely thank you  [s]

Same here Brian the swifts/swallows and gulls all circling around the same height too, and yep going down nicely! hehe  [beer]

[Englishgent]

Here in Bangkok we get this happening two or three times a year and even though I am on the 15th floor the buggers swarm everywhere. They are attracted by the lights in the apartment and as I generally leave my windows open (patio size) they get in very quickly. Its ok if you see them coming but if you are out, you come home to the apartment crawling, dead wings all over the place and swarms still flying around any lights that were left on. They are about twice the size of what you get in the UK and seem to lose their wings very quickly, specially when swatted with a fly swat! Fortunately they dont bite. Deep fried?...hmmm, why not, they eat most bugs over here lol :)