Flying Ants Day is dreaded throughout the UK. During this time, we are suddenly ducking and diving from flying ants as they travel in swarms and rumble on our garden grass.
It’s, to be frank, pretty disgusting.
However, while we call it ‘Flying Ants Day’, that is actually a bit of a misconception. A multi-year citizen science project by the Royal Society of Biology found that it’s actually more of a season than just a day, as flying ants actually emerge over several weeks in different places.
Lucky us!
That said, why does it happen? And why for such a short period of time?
Why do we get flying ants?
A 2017 study found that we only get flying ants when the weather is warm, not windy, and conditions had improved compared to the previous day. Some people also believe that flying ant days actually occur following a period of summer rain.
According to the National History Museum, prior to the annual swarm, ants are living as a colony in a nest.
Garden ants nest in dry soil, often found in flower beds, lawns and under paving slabs. They’re common in any dry, open area warmed by the sun which includes gardens, pavements, grassland and some coastal areas.
To understand why ants do their annual flights, you need to first understand how they live.
The National History Museum explained: “Ants live in a caste system, where individuals have specific jobs. The queen lays the eggs while female workers look after the queen, eggs and larvae.
“They also gather food, enlarge the nest and otherwise ensure the colony runs smoothly. Most of the eggs develop into workers, but when the colony is ready, the queen begins to produce virgin queens and males.”
Once the winged males (known as drones) and virgin queens (known as princesses) emerge from the nest, they then scatter to maximise the chances of mating between colonies and reduce inbreeding.
They are smart little bugs!
While we may feel personally attacked by these swarms of ants, they’re not interested in us, our food, or our homes. They are just looking for mates.
Once the winged females and males match, they fly together in what is known as a ‘nuptial flight’. Awwww.
Why don’t ants fly all year?
Well, uh.
Once they’ve mated, the role of the male ants is over and they tend to die within a week. Female ants, uh, chew off their wings and look for a suitable site to nest. This is why you sometimes see the ground littered with little bug wings.
The ants you see throughout the rest of the year are actually female workers, gathering food for their colonies.
Fascinating.