‘Warm’ Weather Sees The Return of Flying Ants

British summertime is well under way, which naturally means it’s that time of year again to get annoyed by flying ants. 

Over the past few days there have been a few reports of flying ants in the Wrexham area, however rather luckily we seem to have experienced less of an ‘invasion’ than some parts of the country.

As with previous years, The Society of Biology is calling for records of flying ants to be submitted online to track them. Over the past few years the society have received thousands of reports of flying ants which has helped identify the peak month / days of flying ant activity.

@RoyalSocBio under attack from #flyingantday near Wrexham north wales!! pic.twitter.com/JsFOOlnzVX

— Natalie Edwards (@NatalieEdwards5) August 2, 2015

Yesterday #flyingantday was trending on Twitter, however the issue appears to be continuing today with some Wrexhamites commenting on the number of flying ants around their home.

Flying ants generally appear when the weather warms up and often emerge simultaneously over large parts of the country. Most flying ants we are seeing at the moment are the black garden ant (Lasius niger). Despite its size, the black garden ant has a huge impact on our countryside, from improving soil to pollination and pest control.

They are also important as food; last year survey participants reported gulls and swifts feasting on the flying ants.

Much of what we know about ants comes from experiments which scientists can perform. Collecting information about ant emergences around the UK, however, relies on lots of people submitting their records.

On the Society of Biology website it states: “Flying ants often seem to appear on the same day in different locations in the UK – flying ant day. However, after three years of our flying ant survey, we’ve found that the day isn’t as predictable as we had at first thought – can you help us find out what happens this year?!

“Flying ants commonly appear on exactly the same day in different locations in the UK, but sometimes they come out over a period of days or even weeks. For the last three years we have been collecting records of flying ants, and this has revealed some surprising results.”

The Society of Biology is asking everyone who sees flying ants to make a note of the time, date, location and weather conditions, and submit records through an online survey www.societyofbiology.org/flyingantsurvey.

Last time we reported on flying ants in Wrexham, we featured a few ant based jokes as well. So for good measure we’ve added in some of our favourites!

Where do ants go for their holidays?
Frants!

What do you call an ant who skips school?
A truant!

What do you get if you cross ants with ticks?
All sorts of antics!

What do you call a greedy ant?
An anteater!

Why did the elephant put his trunk across the path?
To trip up the ants!