Monday, July 14, 2014

Mid-Air Sex...and my kids saw it all!


If you happen to step outside this time of year and happen to notice a spectacular swarm of flying ants, don't be alarmed!  This is an actual common summer phenomenon!  Winged ants issuing in massive numbers began falling out of a palm tree in our yard today!  It felt as if my home had been a victim of some evil curse, for my walls and sidewalks were crawling with these creepy little flying crawlers! 


 Swarms of Lasius niger (the common black ant) release their wings and take flight around mid July, usually after a heavy rain, in an annual mating ritual.  The male ant then drops dead immediately after their mid-air sex, having outlived their usefulness.  Many of the females end up dieing as well.  


The newly inseminated females that have survived shed their wings and set off to start new colonies as Queen ants.  They store the left over sperm in a sac, and use it when they lie eggs in the future, rather than mate again.

There are hundreds of thousands of these ants taking to the air, and only a few survive to keep the species going.  I watched these ants fall from the sky through a bedroom window.  They would fall in a cluster of about six to seven or more ants, once they hit the ground ants would run over and pull them apart.  Some of the ants would lay there and squirm as other walked off into the grass.  It was quite interesting!  Now that I know what they were doing I feel a little dirty for watching!  *giggle*  It was quite an impressive sight, seeing a cloud of flying ants scramble out of their nearby nest!  


So if you happen to witness this crazy phenomenon, don't be alarmed!  They will be gone as quickly as they came (no pun intended)!  As a matter of fact no one would believe you if you told them, you just had millions of flying ants falling from the sky unless they were there to witness it!  In all my life I have never seen anything like it, but glad I did!!  I continue to learn something new every day!  Have a wonderful day and don't forget you umbrella in case the sky starts falling...apparently it's that time of year!!  :)



44 comments:

  1. That is interesting.. i am glad we do not get that here, it seems to be very freaky.

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  2. Wow that is pretty amazing. I never knew this happened.

    Michelle F.

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  3. Very interesting. I never knew that ants mated like that.

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  4. That would freak me out. Neat, but freaky. lol

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  5. Never knew that this happened, lol. Seems very interesting, but I'm glad it isn't happening around me, because I am not a fan of bugs.

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  6. Oh my wow!!!! My 6 year old would flip out if he saw that swarm. Hoping it doesn't happen.

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  7. I kept thinking of Chicken Little saying the sky was falling. I'll be honest, I might have run & hid because I'm not too keen on bugs.

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  8. SO WEIRD! I'm glad I didn't have to explain it to my boys! ;)

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  9. Yikes! So far no ants this year! I think I would have fainted if I saw this!

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  10. I would definitely not enjoy seeing that many bugs, lol. It's interesting to read about them and let you experience them. ;)

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  11. Yuck haha! We have Love Bugs in Fl and they do it right on your car as your driving down the road haha

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  12. I thought they were going to be love bugs! I'm thankful that we don't have those winged ants here!

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  13. That is crazy! My boys would get a kick out of this. What a sight to see.

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  14. Ack, I'm glad we don't have those here LOL. Interesting though!

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  15. Oh my goodness, I haven't seen this!

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  16. Eww! Great title for your post--definitely an attention getter!

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  17. I wasn't aware there was a flying ant! I am super glad we don't have them here, or if we do I haven't noticed! HAHA.

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  18. I'm sure I've never seen that before. I most definitely wouldn't forget it!

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  19. Gross! I have to admit your title got reeled me in! I would not be happy to find all of these in my back yard.

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  20. Eww that sight scares me a lot. I feel glad that I don't witness it myself haha.

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  21. Not a fan of ants, but I found this post to be very interesting. Especially the storing of sperm for later use. Kind of cool. Thanks for the sex-ed! lol

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  22. Wow that is insane! I can't say that I am an ant lover but what you've shared is fascinating. Never even knew ants had wings and fly! As impressive as what you experienced must have been I'm happy experiencing through your beautiful photos and play by play recounting. Thanks for sharing :-)

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  23. Holy cow! I haven't seen that! Ahah! Cool science lesson for the kids!

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  24. Birds and bees. Or should I saw ants and more ants.

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  25. Weird haha! I am glad we have don't have these ants here..

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  26. I haven't heard of such a thing. Crazy but kind of cool. We have stupid earrwigs here that come out in droves once e year. I wish they would crate earrwig birth control, I'd put it all around my house to prevent proliferation. :) :) :)

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  27. Free science lesson I guess. I'm glad we don't really have many of those around here.

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  28. Huh, interesting. Kinda gross, but interesting. I think I have seen a flying ant or two, but luckily not in a swarm like that.

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  29. I end up having carpenter ants in my trailer during winter so I really dislike ants. It is interesting though. Thanks for sharing.

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  30. Oh my! I think I would have freaked out seeing all those ants. Very interesting.

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  31. Wow! You certainly kept my interest. I've never heard of this type of ant. I think it'd be kind of cool to see a flying ant. I'm a little puzzled about the clusters though. It that the way they travel? Or are the clusters actually little birthing sacs?

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  32. I'm not a fan of bugs. I know scientifically they are an essential part of our ecosystems but....ewwwwww. Great post though.

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  33. That is crazy! I do not like ants and would hate to see that many in one area.

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  34. That's is nuts! Never saw anything like this before! Would have been a sight to see though! Ants makes me itchy when I see them lol

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  35. This was a very cool post....and great pictures as well...

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  36. ew! So glad I haven't seen these... though it was interesting to read about. lol

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  37. No... Just No!! The science of it all is awesome but No. I don't like bugs of any kind and this would not be cool with me. If I lived in your house, I would be trapped! Hahaha

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  38. Very nice information about this phenomenon and here we always believed that it is a sign of a strong typhoon whenever swarm of flying ants are visiting our houses especially at dusk.

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  39. oh man, why not just slow down. Whats the point of FLYING sex. LOL

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  40. Too crazy! And gross! Learn something new every day!

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  41. OMG...that is freaky and weird. And gross. My boys would probably love it, but I'd probably scream, cry and run away ;)

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  42. That is to crazy. I have seen some crazy acts like that living on the farm. My boys would of laughed and giggled.

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  43. Oh, ermmmm. I think I´m glad we don´t have the mad ant rain here. ;)

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  44. I would have probably screamed I really don't like ants at all

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