• Blog
  • Main Website
  • Commercial Pest Control
  • Pest Control Reviews
  • Contact Us
deBugged
  • Blog
  • Main Website
  • Commercial Pest Control
  • Pest Control Reviews
  • Contact Us
Home  /  Countries  /  Ants With Wings – Beware the Flying Ants
22 July 2010

Ants With Wings – Beware the Flying Ants

Written by Jackie
Countries black garden ants, flying ants, garden ants, indiana jones and the temple of doom, superman, winged ants 12 Comments

Winged ants. Ants with wings. Flying ants. Whatever you want to call them, the time of year has arrived. Flying ants are coming to a town near you. You have been warned! Although maybe not today seeing as its raining…

The other day I spotted the first of the flying ants, lining the pavement on the way to get lunch. Then when I got home I decided to make the most of the last ray of sunshine and sit out in the garden. Looking down at my incredibly dry lawn I noticed a great deal of movement. You remember that scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when they find the secret passage in that palace, they have to walk along a veritable carpet of bugs….ok, so my lawn was not quite so bad….but you get my point – they were everywhere! (Great, not only do I have lots of non winged ants in my garden, now i have this lot as well – what luck!)

Honestly this flying ant phenomenon is not a major thing to worry about, except of course if you happen to end up in the centre of a major swarm….I imagine that could be somewhat distressing.

Garden antThe flying ants you may happen to see are the sexually active male and female black garden ants performing, what is termed, their “nuptial flight” (yes, very public for such a private affair!) before they mate. They are apparently waiting for the perfect weather conditions, which sets them off flying. Now, I am not exactly sure what that is (it has been very warm and humid recently), but having spotted loads of them yesterday still just crawling along the ground (no Superman antics just yet!), I reckon we are pretty close to witnessing these big swarms, which can last all day.

One thing we do need to be aware of is that black garden ants can bite people. So, you should take extra care to avoid flying ants, especially if you know you have allergic reaction to bites. I suppose if you do see them heading in your direction, best to get indoors and shut all the windows and doors.

LocustsI remember loads of reports on the radio around this time last year about people seeing these mega swarms of flying ants – I did not see any – but having so many in my garden, I may well be treated to the spectacle this year. It could be worse… at least we are not facing a swarm of locusts. Apparently there was a huge swarm of locusts in Africa in 2004, which cost $400m just to get rid of the pest, and this did not included money lost to destroyed crops!

Anyway, if you see any of these flying ants, I would be interested to hear where you were and what happened, I will of course update you on the flying ants situation in my own garden.

Share On
 Previous Article Ants In My Cavity Wall
Next Article   Pest By Name, Pest By Nature?

Related Posts

  • Fleas: Beyond Your Pets – Unexpected Places You Might Find Them

    February 17, 2025
  • Wasps on the Rise in Dublin

    September 5, 2024
  • Comprehensive Fly Control Management for Business

    August 29, 2024
  • Pest Olympics 2024 

    August 2, 2024
Jackie

I joined UK Marketing for Rentokil Pest Control in January 2009. What an enlightenment that has been….cheese mites, bed bugs and confused flour beetles, I never knew such things existed but I’ve certainly learnt how Rentokil expertise and experience eliminates them. Now my mission is to use the website to show the population of the UK that whatever their pest problem, Rentokil have the solution. Life outside of work revolves around my husband and kids, so life is pretty hectic!

12 Comments

  1. Westchester Pest Control Reply to Westchester to Westchester Pest Control" aria-label=" Reply to Westchester to Westchester Pest Control"> Reply to Westchester
    July 27, 2010 at 2:20 pm

    Many people can get flying ants confused with termites, they look very similar.

  2. Patricia Watson Reply to Patricia to Patricia Watson" aria-label=" Reply to Patricia to Patricia Watson"> Reply to Patricia
    August 28, 2010 at 3:00 pm

    Interested to read what you had to say about flying ants, as on 17th August 2010 in Cleggan, Connemara, W. Ireland we were absolutely inundated with flying ants. I happened to be hanging out washing on the clothes line – the washing was covered with these ants which then proceeded to swarm around me as well – they were everwhere and got in under my clothes – especially my bra and I was literally covered in stings, over my whole body – especially my chest. The discomfort, heat and itching from these lasted for more than a week – I spoke to the pharmacist in Clifden who reccommended an anti-histamine and mild steroid ointment – these made absoloutely no difference to the pain and itching – I found the only thing that helped was cool baths and applying a cold compress to the worst affected areas. The discomfort has now gone, but I still have some red marks remaining.Nobody else in my family was affected – I suppose I must be extremely allergic to these ant stings!

  3. Tina Reply to Tina to Tina" aria-label=" Reply to Tina to Tina"> Reply to Tina
    May 14, 2011 at 12:35 am

    We saw this happen today in Austin, Texas…yesterday it rained. Today we have blue skies and lots of warm sun. They were rising from a giant ant hill and flying off in a southerly direction. Cool!

  4. D D Thedford Reply to D to D D Thedford" aria-label=" Reply to D to D D Thedford"> Reply to D
    June 23, 2011 at 3:59 am

    While driving home from church (June 22, 2011) at about 8:15 pm we observed many swarms of insects at the tallest of the tree tops strangely trailing from these trees going off to the West in undulating waves. I hurried home and captured several photos of this occurence. While doing so several landed on and around me. Armed with my pictures and computer I found out with a little research I found that they are “flying ants”; and, then found your article. So here in Bastrop County near Elgin, Texas, we’re having a lot of swarms!!! Very interesting to observe. I have pictures if you’re interested.

    • Alicia Reply to Alicia to Alicia" aria-label=" Reply to Alicia to Alicia"> Reply to Alicia
      June 23, 2011 at 9:41 am

      Thanks for sharing the information with us! I would love to see the pictures. Please send them in and I’ll post them on the blog to share with the deBugged community.

  5. ELKMASTER101 Reply to ELKMASTER101 to ELKMASTER101" aria-label=" Reply to ELKMASTER101 to ELKMASTER101"> Reply to ELKMASTER101
    May 1, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    Wow, this morning, arrived at hhe office just in time to find my first swarm of flying ants they have little brown dots on the outer edges of their wings.
    truely love the light in no time they were every where in hte office building where evere a light came on.
    mister bug man is on his way, there must be hundreds of thousands, hope its to cold for them in our computer control room.

  6. Lynette Slipek Reply to Lynette to Lynette Slipek" aria-label=" Reply to Lynette to Lynette Slipek"> Reply to Lynette
    August 21, 2017 at 10:07 am

    My name is Lynette and I live in Phoenix Arizona about a month ago I was setting up my granddaughter swimming pool when a whole bunch of flying ants bothering you I got stung in the back and boy get hurt my granddaughter got bit twice you find them in her clothes in her hair everywhere

  7. Scered Reply to Scered to Scered" aria-label=" Reply to Scered to Scered"> Reply to Scered
    April 14, 2018 at 7:22 pm

    It was in my house I was just about to get into bed when I saw it. A winged ant. I resulted in killing it then I looked it up I didn’t know if it was dangerous or not either.

    • Rentokil Pest Control Ireland Reply to Rentokil to Rentokil Pest Control Ireland" aria-label=" Reply to Rentokil to Rentokil Pest Control Ireland"> Reply to Rentokil
      April 24, 2018 at 4:09 pm

      Hello,

      Thank you for visiting our blog. We could arrange a free house survey to check if your property has an ant infestation. If you would like to take it please let us know your details to arrange a survey. https://www.rentokil.ie/contact-us/

      Rentokil

  8. Pat Reply to Pat to Pat" aria-label=" Reply to Pat to Pat"> Reply to Pat
    April 25, 2018 at 7:44 pm

    Winged ants, ants are in everywhere about our house!
    What do I do?
    My wife is going bonkers!!!

    • Rentokil Pest Control Ireland Reply to Rentokil to Rentokil Pest Control Ireland" aria-label=" Reply to Rentokil to Rentokil Pest Control Ireland"> Reply to Rentokil
      April 26, 2018 at 9:33 am

      HI Pat,

      Thank you for visiting our blog. To avoid a larger infestation, we could offer you a free house survey. Our local technician will check around and give you some best practice advice on ant prevention and treatment. If you’d like to take it, please contact us asap to arrange a house survey. https://www.rentokil.ie/contact-us/

  9. Pingback: Tweets that mention Ants With Wings – Beware the Flying Ants | deBugged -- Topsy.com

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Need some advice?

Talk to one of our experts:

For your Home

0818 001 590

For your Business

0818 001 589

Checking...

Ouch! There was a server error.
Retry »

Sending message...

Quick Form

Fill in the form below and we will be in touch soon


Categories

  • Ants
  • Birds
  • Countries
  • Insects
  • Rodents

SUBSCRIBE TO THE DEBUGGED BLOG


Latest Video

Recent Posts

  • Fleas: Beyond Your Pets – Unexpected Places You Might Find Them February 17, 2025
  • Rentokil also does residential pest control, providing excellent service to Irish home owners.
    How to Keep Your Home Rodent-Free January 17, 2025
  • Mice, Meet Your Match: The Science Behind PestConnect and RADAR X December 6, 2024
  • pests in a dusty room
    10 Spooky Pests That May Haunt Your Halloween October 10, 2024

© 2025 Rentokil Initial plc and subject to the conditions in the Legal Statement.

  • Noises in the Attic
  • Top Household Pests
  • Technical Expertise
  • Why Rentokil
  • RI Supplier Code
  • Manage Cookies
  • Company Information
  • Legal Statement
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • eBilling
myRentokil
  • Ambius.ie Ambius.ie
  • Initial.ie Initial.ie
  • Rentokil.ie Rentokil.ie