zoo:logic

For just one day a year, millions of ants across the UK take to the air in what is known as the nuptial flight - those in the London area may have noticed that for this region, that day was yesterday. This annual event is the time for winged ‘princesses’ - virgin queens - and male drones, collectively known as alates, to get a taste of the outside world where their sterile female workers roam during the rest of the year. The ants choose their day carefully based on temperature (warmth makes it easier for them to fly), humidity (damp soils are softer to dig new nests) and day length (the ritual always takes place in summer). Amazingly, flights are somehow coordinated between nests in the same region in order to maximise the chances of meeting with ants from other colonies to mate. How this is done is not yet fully known, but it is likely to be through a chemical signal. After emerging, the princesses release pheromones to attract male suitors, and ensure they get the strongest mate by outflying the males so that they must work to keep up. During her nuptial flight a princess will usually mate with several drones, storing the sperm in a ‘sperm pocket’ that will last her a lifetime: after mating, she loses her wings and buries underground, where she will start a new colony and use sperm reserves to fertilise tens of millions of eggs over the course of up to 15 years. The males, on the other hand, have completed their role in mating and die shortly afterwards.

The Society of Biology is studying patterns of flying ant emergence across the UK to determine country-wide levels of synchronisation and is calling on the public for your help - if you have noticed any flying ants in your area submit your sightings here!

Ref: BBC News, 2012. Who What Why: How do flying ants know it’s mating day? [link]
Mccarthy M., 2012. Cleared for take-off: it’s the day of the flying ants. The Independent [link] 
Nuptial flight: When Flying Ants Mate in the Skies. AntArk [link]