Flying Ants

[richie1606]

Noticed this afternoon swarms of flying ants everywhere some of them on the large side. Lot's of the neighbours where out with the ant powder but it didn't seem to have any effect on them. My Mrs and kids were afraid to leave the house because of them.Anyone else had any problems with them or know why there are so many of them about ?? Is it something to do with this un seasonal weather we are having at the moment??

[Gully]

You get them every year, its the fertile males and females that can breed. They head off, mate in the air then the males die and the females find somewhere to lay their eggs and spend the winter. For some reason I always associate it with a hot summer afternoon when its muggy, like before a thunderstorm comes.

[Hodmedod.one]

You get them every year, its the fertile males and females that can breed. They head off, mate in the air then the males die and the females find somewhere to lay their eggs and spend the winter. For some reason I always associate it with a hot summer afternoon when its muggy, like before a thunderstorm comes.

 

I think that you are spot on there Gully.

 

My Mrs had a wobbler when we got home yesterday and her bedside cabinet was covered in them. A quick visit from Mr Dyson and a squirt of fly spray down the vac soon sorted them though.

 

We got our thunderstorm about 5 hours later.

[Cranfield]

We had flying ants everywhere in the garden during the last few days, fortunately none were in the cottage.

The starlings were rushing all over the lawns picking them up and a family of green woodpeckers (4) were also on the grass, but they may have been feeding in the little termite hills, rather than on the ants.

 

Its the storm flies/thunderbugs that really drive me mad.

Once they get into your hair (or you think they have), you can go mad scratching and how they get behind the glass on framed pictures intrigues me.

[charlie 1]

we had two nests in our garden which decided to go and explore whilst we where eating out there. but 2 full kettles of boiling water soon stopped them. havn't seen any since.

[JohnGalway]

Plenty of them around here too, my dad got stung/bitten a fair few times by them yesterday, down the back of the collar job

[Gully]

I thought only wood ants bit? those big ones you get in pine woods.

 

Talking about gardens and insects, on Sunday I found out what happens when you add a hedge trimmer to a wasps nest.

[SNAKEBITE]

As said above, boiling water!

Egologically sound and no chemicals!!

[richie1606]

You were right about the thunder had a big storm this morning.

[digger]

They tend to swarm at the same time when the temperature is just right. Its always when the wind is non existent ( they are poor fliers ) and the nests within the same area are doing the same to avoid inbreeding ( think Norfolk ! ).

There is a lot of truth in the saying " the calm before the storm " as this is when the colonies tend to send out the ants that are capable of mating.