Summer is here and with it comes the annual swarm of flying ants hitting the shores of Britain.
Commonly known as Flying Ant Day, although it usually takes place over several days, the peak can occur at different times in different parts of the country.
Here’s everything you need to know.
When is Flying Ant Day?
Well that name is kind of misleading, it’s not really a set day,
The Royal Society of Biology (RSB) says: “Flying ants often appear in different locations in the UK on the same day – Flying Ant Day. Most ant colonies start with a flying ant – when young queens leave the nest to start their own colony.
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“However, our citizen science project, the Flying Ant Survey, found that there is actually no day when these ants all appear at once, but that the ants can appear and fly at almost any point in the day, depending on weather conditions summer months and will not all appear in just one day.”
Really, it depends on the conditions, and ants show up when wind speeds are less than 20 feet per second and temperatures are above 13°C, which can happen several times in the summer.”
Professor Adam Hart from the University of Gloucestershire led the three-year study from 2012 in partnership with the RSB.
The RSB adds: “One of the key findings of the survey was that there is certainly not just one flying ant day; the frequency of appearance of the flying ants changes every year and depends on the weather.
“Colonies also don’t have any significant geographic coordination when it comes to blowing up; A garden can see flying ants in one day while the neighbors see them weeks or even months later.
“During the study, every day in the UK summer with an average temperature above 25°C let ants fly somewhere.
Is there no way to tell?
Pest controllers Merlin Environmental analyzed search data to see when people Googled for information about flying ants.
Assuming that most people do this because they’ve seen them, they assume that the peak of the flying ant season will be in July.
They say: “To go further down, we identified the specific week of each year with the most flying ant activity based on the search data. The table shows the week of each year when searches peaked in the UK between 2017 and 2021.
“Since all peaks in the last 5 years have been in July, we can estimate that ‘Flying Ant Month 2022’ will also be in July, but since the highest point of each peak has been a different week each year, it is not possible predict which week of 2022 will be the peak for flying ants.”
Why is Flying Ant Day happening?
The ants leave their underground nests to mate and start new colonies.
Ant colonies begin with a female flying ant that left her previous colony to start a new one.
Mating occurs in flight and the males die shortly thereafter.
The fertilized female then lands, chews off her wings, and then sets about establishing a new colony and producing offspring.
Flying ants aren’t harmful, so if any do appear in your yard, it’s best to leave them alone and they’ll be gone in a few hours.
