In the UK on humid days you will see millions of Black Ants emerging to mate on the wing in unison. This spectacle is witnessed by many of my customers and can result in them returning home to find a room full of flying ants. I call it flying ant night as often the telephone will be alight with concerned callers asking what to do.
Often when it gets to this point there is little more to do than grab a hoover and suck them all up off the window or open the windows to let them out ! This mass flight is caused by queen ants and male ants leaving the nest at the same time due to the humid weather. With the queens and the males leaving the nests at the same time it increases the chance of the queens getting mated before she goes off to make her own ant nest.
After mating the male dies his job is done, the queen will bite her wings off and seek out a suitable nest site, she will be able to produce many thousands of ants and can live up to 20 years. Black ants are the masters of perfect timing and could give the red arrows here in Lincolnshire a run for their money, as they fly in unison. If you are in a home where you experience this then call us early in the season so we can kill the nests in your home before they get to this point. We use safe products around your home which will be taken back by the worker ants and fed to the rest of the nest.
Large Queen Ant