Spotted today in Cardiff. The air's quite thick with them out there.
I checked to see when we talked about this before, and it seems it was 6 years ago:
http://www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,9850.0.html (http://www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,9850.0.html)
Yes it appears to be Flying Ant Day. I am sequestered indoors but many of my mates on Twitter have been moaning about them. :D
I for one welcome our new ant overlords and pledge them my fealty.
you guys probably have namby pamby gay little flying ants over there. In Oz when the flyng ants are out in force a warning goes on the radio to keep all small dogs and cats indoors as they've been known to be carried off by the blighters!
Cu Radbacker
I am interested to see if there are any further occurrences this summer. Ants lose their wings very soon after hatching, and typically only get one day's flight out of them. The fliers from different colonies all emerging at the same time maximizes the chances of mating and brings together the biggest gene pool.
I saw a few that had emerged early and possibly prematurely on Sunday. I'm wondering how many I'll see today, if any at all.
Oh didn't know it was a national epidemic, thought it was just a random occurrence on my back doorstep. A whole swarm of the winged and non-winged mothertruckers!! Got the ant powder straight all over that posse ;)
Pouring down, so no flying ants today! That may well be it for the year, at least in south Wales. The ants have sent out their breeders, they've taken wing, mated and returned to the nest or founded new colonies for themselves. There may well be no more where they came from.
One thing I miss seeing is swallows making the most of the feeding opportunity like they did every year when I was growing up in Brighton.
No-one likes the ants then?
I was quite moved by their heroic quest to start new colonies the last time I witnessed it.
Admittedly, their quest seemed more noble once I was indoors...
Squadrons of them today. Like the battle of Britain. Spits, Messies , Hurries, the lot.
Powdered the bastards that came from my garden and have a tin full of prisoners which will be interrogated tomorrow.
V
We'll have to carry Ant spray guns every time we leave the house. Or flamethrowers.
Murderers!
Tomorrow's Sun headline
"Flying Ant Seduced My Wife"
Necropost! One year on...
I saw a single dead flying ant yesterday, and winged ants swarming out of a drain cover today. So far I've seen hardly any on the wing, and only from that one nest.
Looks like the ants are mating a week later this year than last year, at least in south Wales.
Anyone else seen breeder ants flying yet this year?
I encountered swarms of them 2 weeks ago in Dublin. Cycling home they kept flyin' at me, I happened to look down and a queen was on my sleeve. Vile creatures and such bad flyers.
Saw a bunch of them this evening, on my way home from work in Limerick.
There were plenty in Buckinghamshire yesterday but none today. Guess the life cycle isn't long.
we had them yesterday. stacks all over the place.
A few about today down here in Hastings. I still can't quite accept their existence, despite 41 years of seeing them every year. I seem to forget ants are sometimes capable of flight as I go between August and June, and always react with a mighty "WHOA! ANTS WITH WINGS! MUT-ANTS!" and then thank grud it's not spiders every July.
SBT
2000ad should do a comic strip about mankind's struggle against ants. Best make them giant ants, to grab the attention. It could like a war against ants.
jus' sayin'
How ridiculous! As if 2000AD would ever print such a far-fetched story..
Yesterday was my blight.
Crushed millions of them I swear. My lawn was crawling.
The bastards have wrecked the pointing on my slabs so I used some Chem warfare on their asses.
Chalk one up for the Humans.
V
none up here ,mind you, we'd probably cover them in gravy for tea
My patio has been infested for weeks.
Quote from: The Enigmatic Dr X on 26 July, 2011, 09:05:34 PM
2000ad should do a comic strip about mankind's struggle against ants. Best make them giant ants, to grab the attention. It could like a war against ants.
jus' sayin'
:lol:
Saw proper, though sparse, clouds of flying ants today. No birds feasting on them. Ants landing on people here and there, including myself. Had dinner in the garden this evening and wasn't troubled by ants at all.
I wonder if this is the reason I've been seeing absolutely loads of birds around today. I went into town and they were just everywhere. Far more than I've ever seen.
I still don't believe in them.
They've all deplaned in Stevie's back yard today.
In Adelaide.
South Australia.
Quote from: vzzbux on 26 July, 2011, 11:49:56 PM
Yesterday was my blight.
Crushed millions of them I swear. My lawn was crawling.
The bastards have wrecked the pointing on my slabs so I used some Chem warfare on their asses.
Chalk one up for the Humans.
V
i spent years destroying the colonies in my garden (apparently it takes 10 years to establish them).
My gardens were once covered. no more.
and still they cooooooome!! :o
Quote from: Something Fishy on 28 July, 2011, 08:22:03 PM
Quote from: vzzbux on 26 July, 2011, 11:49:56 PM
Yesterday was my blight.
Crushed millions of them I swear. My lawn was crawling.
The bastards have wrecked the pointing on my slabs so I used some Chem warfare on their asses.
Chalk one up for the Humans.
V
i spent years destroying the colonies in my garden (apparently it takes 10 years to establish them).
My gardens were once covered. no more.
I also put lots of bird feeding stuff out and get gardens full of birds which helps a lot.
and still they cooooooome!! :o