Whatever happened to red ants....?

[WoD]

I haven't seen these since I was a kid and wondered where did they go?

Did they all mutate into giant man-eating red-ants only to get destroyed by small black ants as the balance of nature was restored once more...

Or did they all just get dirty and forget to wash?

[House of Usher]

Wow. That's an obsrevation and a half. When I was a kid my grandparents' garden had red ant and black ant nests every summer. I haven't seen red ants in large numbers for ages. Maybe WoD and I are just going by unrepresentative samples. Any entomologists or formicologists out there got the answer?

[Quirkafleeg]

I've not seen flying ants for years either..

[Max Kon]

i've seen flying ants this year. there were loads last

[House of Usher]

I haven't seen flying ants yet this year. I'd have thought it was a bit early for them yet, but apparently not. If you have a garden with ants nests in it, you'll have flying ants, but only for a few days at the height of summer.

[swavesey]

Red ants............gone the way of the white dog-dirt, my friend.

[WoD]

What's the chances of that; some people I know were only talking about white dog poop just this weekend.  Due to chalk they used to bulk out the food I guess.

Another one I'd love to know is how the flying ants around the place where I grew up knew to all fly-out on the same day at the same time.  We used to get swarms of the buggers...thousands and thousands of them for miles around.

Would still love to know the answer about the red ants though....I'm guessing that some sort of super-euro-ant came over and wiped them out (or something similar anyway).

WoD.

[Thread Zero]

Would still love to know the answer about the red ants though....I'm guessing that some sort of super-euro-ant came over and wiped them out (or something similar anyway).

Close - the red ant regime came to an end in the eighties. Today, they embrace capitalism like the black ants but are really under the control of the ant mafia.

[Oddboy]

Yeah I remember red-ants. Not seen any in years.

Maybe its because as you grow older you spend less time playing on the floor?

[Matt Timson]

They were wiped out by a cruel and vengeful God.  And his Kosmic Kettle.

[johnnystress]

Link: http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/400354/07071998/red_aunts.jhtml" target="_blank">read a(u)nts

[johnnystress]

red- i meant, red

[swavesey]

Maybe they were wiped out by a giant magnifying glass held by a space-child.

Ants are colonial organisms, therefore whole batches of eggs containing the winged females tend to hatch together. It is possible that a chemical signal is used as a way to communicate when this point should be - but I'm just guessing there.

My frigging garden is full of red ants, and my mate Liz just got bitten on the bum.

[johnnystress]

Giant magnifying glass you say?

Link: http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/games/gameson4/ant_city.html" target="_blank">ant city

[thrillpowerseeker]

Red Ants are currently starring in this catalogue that comes free with this months Bizarre magazine...they're in Mint Flavoured Ice Lollies!!..along with scorpions and worms..