What is Flying Ant Day?
In the annual pest control calendar, there are a couple of days which we all dread; the first one is the day, and usually it comes on a Sunday, when everyone pops up into their loft to bring down the Christmas decorations. Exactly why do we dread this? Because this is when they discover rodent droppings and then realise that the sounds that they’ve heard at night, aren’t birds on the roof as they’d hoped for, but actually rats running round the inside of the loft.
The other day, and sometimes it’s a couple of days, are what we call the Flying Ant Day and this day needs no introduction.
What are flying ants?
As you’d expect, the simple answer to this question is that they’re just ants which have wings, but why do these particular ants have wings, when all the other ants don’t?
The reason why these ants have wings is not because they’re superhero ants or anything like that, but those ants which we’ll see on the Flying Ant Days, have grown wings for a very important reason, because this is what’s called a nuptial flight.
A nuptial flight is basically an entire ant colonies young Queens and males, all being released at the same time to take to the wing, and once airborne, they meet up and mate. Having wings means that the ants can disperse over a wider area and therefore grow the colonies influence over other, nearby ants.
Because ants just crawl on the ground, they can’t cover much of an area, and when it comes to breeding, it’s far better for a Queen ant to bring in fresh DNA and mate with a male from other colony, rather than mate with those males produced by the same mother. Think of it as Mother Nature’s way of introducing better natural selection, and when you think about it, that’s quite clever for a little insect.
What is flying ant day about?
Flying Ant Day is the name that we give those few occasions when this happens, and quite often its more than just one day. When these ants become airborne as part of this nuptial flight, it can be a bit of a nightmare, especially if you’re one people that really don’t like insects.
Flying Ant Day tends to occur between July and August, following a period of summer rain when the air is humid but calm, it’s these specific arrangements of weather conditions which leaves the ground damp, that cause a Flying Ant Day.
The reality is that we should call it the Flying Ant Season, rather than a single day because it will vary from place to place due to the weather and type of ground; for example one garden may see flying ants on a given day, when just a few streets away, they won’t see any flying ants.
Can we avoid flying ants?
Because these ants will swarm in hot and humid weather, with different species doing so at slightly different times, many people will have their windows and doors open, especially through the late afternoons, as they try to catch a cooling breeze. The last thing that you want is to have to keep everything shut up tight turning the house into an oven.
In that very hot weather which we have, the best advice is to try and trap the cooler night air inside by leaving curtains drawn and windows shut for as long as possible into the new day. This may help to keep some flying ants out of the house; however, my experience is that they start their nuptial flights in the afternoons.
If you notice an ant nest that is close to the house, usually you’ll find them underneath block paving or patio slabs, and identifiable by the loose debris pushed up out of the ground. You could try and deal with them without using chemicals by pouring boiling water into the cracks and down into the ant nest. Obviously, taking care around pets and children, but at least you’re not leaving any chance of insecticide being exposed.
Do flying ants sting or bite?
The flying ants that we’ll see swarming out, have only one thing on their mind and that’s to find a mate, the males die shortly after mating, while the Queens, immediately shed their wings so they can burrow down into the damp soil, and start on building their new colony.
Flying ants don’t pose any significant hazard to us other than being annoying, but as with any ants, they can and do, travel inside homes and businesses, and end up crawling across kitchen work surfaces, where they can spread germs and bacteria, and that’s really the extent of the problem we have with ants.
It’s always best to keep work surfaces clean and take food waste outside of the property as quickly as you can, additionally, make sure that you keep jars and container lids secure, so any ants can’t get inside, and just don’t leave food lying around outside.
Flying ants are a nuisance and they don’t pose much of a hazard to us if you keep kitchens clean and free from waste, it’s a common insect solution to the problem of predation by birds and small mammals and something we should relax into and if possible, enjoy as a spectacle?
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