Ants 2

[Headtime]

The other day there were thousands of flying Ants around my house. Is each flying ant a Queen on it's way to start a new colony?

[becks]

There's loads of flying ants where i am too, don't think it's about a new colony, just that in the existing ones the babies have all hatched and are flying around being gross.

[Headtime]

Cheers Becks. What happens to the wings though? They don't look like normal worker ants.

[Cetti]

When the air temperature is right all the ants take to the air on their first - and last flight. Amongst them is one Queen. This lady then mates with every male around, then goes off to start a new colony or returns in triumph to the old one. The ants flying also coincides with the Swifts having a feeding frenzy storing up energy before leaving.

[Cetti]

I forgot the sad bit - the poor old males die after mating and everyone else loses their wings - then they start the cycle all over again.

[robber1]

All of the large flying ants are "Queens in waiting". They only mate on the wing. If they dont mate within 12 hours they die. Once mated they try to form a new colony. If they are close to an existing colony, the new Queen is killed by them. Thats why its best not to kill old colonies. By clearing an area totally of ants, more new Queens become established with no opposition. Out of the thousands of ants that fly, only a small amount survive like many other creatures, thats how they ensure survival.

[New Forester]

The flying ants are the breeding ones. They are both male and female. The males are a bit bigger than the workers, the females very much bigger. The winged males and females fly and mate, then the female "princesses" land, break off their wings, and become queens. They either try to start new nests, or are taken into existing nests of the right species -- or they are eaten by something. The males just die. In the nest, most ants are workers, which are wholly wingless infertile females. There is also one fertile female, the queen (sometimes several). These live much longer (years) and lay eggs all the time. They store the sperm from their mating flight, and use it sparingly -- they don't mate again. Termites ("white ants") are not true ants and they do it rather differently.