Flying Ant Day

Around lunchtime today there was a sudden squeal from the garden. My daughter was making the most of the beautiful weather and was stretched out on the lawn sunbathing, and she suddenly found herself surrounded by hundreds of flying ants.

They smothered the grass and the picnic table, and were accompanied by hundreds more wingless ants, unusually active in large numbers above ground. A survey of flying ants over the past three summers seems to have debunked the idea that they all appear on the same day in different locations across the country, but the study is ongoing.

These seemed to be the common black garden ant, Lasius niger, but there are other species around. If you have seen or see something similar, the Flying Ant Survey would like to know: www.societyofbiology.org/get-involved/biologyweek/flying-ant-survey