Flying Ants: As if the torrid heat beginning to envelop the valley didn't bring enough comfort to our daily lives, the Monsoon thunderstorm season is rapidly approaching to shower us with rainstorms. These thunderstorms are accompanied by above average humidity and that creates a 'perfect storm' for flying ants to emerge from their colonies to begin their mating process. And they do just that... by the tens of thousands. However, not to worry because they're not dangerous to humans, even if the critters enter your home for a friendly visit.

When the rain begins to abate it's not unusual to see huge swarms of flying ants seemingly appear from nowhere. The swarm is actually the mating arena for winged reproductive males and winged females, and is usually comprised of thousands of flying ants from multiple colonies. All mating for the species takes place in the air and generally occurs over the course of a single day. Males die after mating and the mated females disperse attempting to establish a new colony.

Mating Ritual and Selection: Flying ants usually display a strange behavior known as "hill-topping" where they swarm around the landscape's tallest object, e.g., a tree or chimney. Females are the larger of the species. They dip and dodge to avoid most males while saving themselves for the fastest and fittest males to deposit their sperm. A queen will mate with several males, but males only mate with one female, if they're lucky. To their chagrin, most flying ants die without mating, many killed by other species of worker ants and various other predators.

This short video shows thousands of flying ants emerging from their colony then forming an enormous swarm... but at first you must look closely to see them emerge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcVRAbY9jWQ 

Flying Ant or Termite: Winged ants and termites look very similar and are easily mistaken. So you won't freak out and mistake an ant for a termite, I'll briefly explain the difference. Both have four wings, however termites' wings are the same length and twice that of their body. The flying ant's two front wings are longer then the rear set. You can also distinguish flying ants and termites by their waist: ants have thin waists while termites' are thick and chunky. The image to the right should help.

Memorial Day: A belated, sincere thanks to the brave, dedicated women and men in America's military for everything you do to keep our great country free.