People in Gedling borough are gearing up for #FlyingAntDay which could happen any day now…
“Flying Ant Day” is the day of the year when the queen ant of each colony suddenly spouts wings and then takes off. The problem is that due to the queen having to mate in mid-air, the males ALSO have to sprout wings to chase after her.
The event usually occurs at the end of July or the beginning of August, but as ants usually only sprout wings when there is little chance of rain, people fear the heatwave could make it happen THIS WEEK.
So what actually happens?
“Flying Ant Day” is the unofficial term for the day on which this phenomenon takes place.
The queen ants from each colony emerge from the nest simultaniously and then fly off to mate. Each queen is often accompanied by a number of flying males from the same nest.
All the queen ants fly around, some for miles, other a for a few metres, and then attempt to mate with the flying males from the other colonies in mid-air.
After mating successfully, the ants then lose their wings and drop suddenly to the ground.
Once on back on the ground, the queen ant will then attempt to start a new colony wherever she lands.
The phenomenon occurs in most colonies simultaneously when the local weather conditions are right and the queens have the best chance of mating with males from other colonies.
We learnt something new today – we hope you did too!
- If you capture #FlyingAntDay taking place in Gedling borough then send us your pics to news@gedlingeye.co.uk
