Flying Ant Day 2023: When is flying ant day, why do they fly, when do they appear and why they fly in swarms

Every summer, there seems to come a moment when the floor is crawling with winged ants. Almost overnight, the air becomes full of them and we find ourselves trying to duck them as they come at us in their droves.

These are known as ‘flying ants’ and people are counting down the days until ‘flying ant day’. However, flying ant day is just a myth. It’s more of a season, with flying ants appearing in different parts of the country any time between June and September.

‘Flying ant day’ was always used at different times around the country. This is because local weather is crucial for the co-ordination of swarming activity. If it’s hot and humid in the south, but raining in the north, they will appear in one area and not the other.

However, the conditions have to be just right. For a swarm of ants to occur, the weather needs to be hot and humid - which is extremely common in the UK during the summer - and they’re most prevalent during July and August.

Flying ants also tend to fly earlier in urban areas than rural areas. This is probably because temperatures are generally warmer in urban environments, known as the urban heat island effect.

Unlike other insects, there’s never just one or two of them. There’s two reasons they always travel in big groups. One is to protect themselves from predators and the other is to increase the chances of finding a mate.

Ants fly because they need to start a new colony and flying enables the queen to do this. She will need to meet with a male mate from a different colony to start their own. The only thing they’re interested in is finding a mate.

Every year they do annoy us and it’s in our instinct to be a bit wary of any creature that can fly, especially in such a large group. But, flying ants are absolutely harmless and won’t be around for long.