Yesterday was ‘Flying ant day’ here on my Local Patch.
This day will vary each year, between June and August, but it will only happen when the conditions are just right. Generally it happens on a day when the temperature is over 25 degrees and there is very little wind.
The flying ants leaving the nest are new Queens and males who are going off to find mates from other colonies and begin their own colony.
One interesting fact is that once mated, the male dies shortly after, while the female chews off her wings before setting about creating her new colony.
In my garden we have an ants nest under the rendering on the back wall. Around 2pm yesterday I noticed the first few flying ants emerging, each one being pushed along or encouraged by a wingless ant.
Crawling up the wall, sometimes as high as the guttering until they took a leap of faith and took off in to the air.
Not all made it far and some could be seen on various plants around the garden. Looking at the Swallows sitting or wheeling overhead quite a few probably didn’t make it further than our garden.
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Appleton Wildlife Diary by Alex White 