19-07-2016, 09:06 PM
1
Get ready for flying ant day...
I noticed today the ants were massing in my garden ready for the big flight.Then I saw this article in my local paper and a link to a survey being conducted by The royal society for Biology for anyone who wishes to take part ..
Because now that summer appears to be here, #FlyingAntDay could happen at any time.
The what day?
Flying ant day is the day of the year when both queen ants miraculously sprout wings and take off - and hundreds of male ants ALSO sprout wings to follow here because they mate in midair.
Technically Flying Ant Day can cover four or five days depending on the weather.
It usually happens at the end of July, but the sudden heat of the weekend has meant a lot of flying ants have already been spotted - and where one goes, the rest tend to follow.
Why do ants sprout wings?
A new queen ant needs to leave the colony where she is born to found a new one. She also needs to mate. So, she leaves her nest with a number of flying male worker ants.
According to the Royal Society of Biology, the large numbers of flying ants which appear in a short space of time increase the chance of reproduction, because there is a very high chance a queen will encounter a male from another nest.
Then, to check he's worthy. she flies away from him, performing acrobatics to test his abilities to catch her. When he does they mate in mid-air. This kills the male ant.
The Queen then lands to find somewhere to start a new colony. She loses her wings after just one day.
When is Flying Ant Day?
Usually, it happens at the end of July or the beginning of August. Ants only sprout wings when there is little chance of rain and the weather is nice and warm. But the RSB, who have been studying flying ant day for a few years, say they now believe it's not as predicatable as first thought.
Professor Adam Hart, of the University of Gloucestershire, said: "With 2016 already proving to be a wet one, it will be interesting to see whether we get a repeat of 2012, when most of the flights were compressed into just a couple of days in July and August between the rain.
"Of course, if it clears up we may see a repeat of the beautiful ‘pulsing’ pattern of 2014, with regular flights every couple of weeks.”
When flying ant day does arrive, you can let the RSB know by tweeting them using #flyingantsurvey or emailing via their website here
https://www.rsb.org.uk/get-involved/...ing-ant-survey
@ Janet
19-07-2016, 09:14 PM
4
Re: Get ready for flying ant day...
There were hundreds of thousands leaving my garden yesterday.They'd hatched in a 25lt tub containing a plant of some sort.
You couldn't see the plant for them.
It was like a scene from Doctor Who when the Daleks invaded(only in reverse)
Those Doctor Who fans will understand
20-07-2016, 09:13 AM
9
Re: Get ready for flying ant day...
Explains why a lot of birds start the return to wintering grounds during July, good food supply, swifts in particular benefit from the food source.Also the fact that many species like gulls, swallows and martins, feed high in the sky on sunny days, along with the ants, there are also flys and spiders riding the warm air.
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