Ants take flight, looking for a little love

Swarms seen in backyards are most likely on mating flights; their emergence isn’t unusual

Cicadas emerged from the ground following their 17-year hiatus this summer, wreaking havoc in the United States with their enormous population and loud mating calls. While Hamilton and the surrounding area were mostly free of the red-eyed bugs, another insect has sprung from the ground: flying ants.

Swarms of these flying insects were seen disrupting walks and being removed by the thousands from backyard pools in Burlington over the weekend.

Laura Fox noticed thousands of them swarming around her vegetable garden in Hamilton’s Rosedale neighbourhood. “I was a little bit grossed out,” she said.

Marvin Gunderman, a retired instructor of entomology at McMaster University —

aptly referred to as “Bug Man” — said the swarms are most likely male and female ants on mating flights, and their emergence is not unusual.

These lawn-dwelling ants spend most of their time underground collecting food for their larva, but when their colony grows too big to sustain itself, “they need to disperse and split,” he said.

At this point, the queen ant will put out some winged males and females.

In the air, the winged female ants release pheromones when they flutter their wings, which attracts the male ants, or drones, who are responsible for inseminating the female ants. The drones are tasked with chasing female ants in the air — a process Gunderman said may weed out the weaker, substandard flying males to strengthen the next generation.

While these drones play a vital role in the creation of new colonies, they die right after mating, and the newly fertilized female ants will fly away, drop into the lawn and start their own colony.

These flying ants are more of a nuisance than a hazard, said Gunderman, and it’s best to “just leave them alone” for the few days they’re around mating.

Most people don’t notice their lawn is full of ant colonies unless there are a lot of bare patches of grass, or if they’re met with swarms of mating ants, he said.

“They’re very remarkable creatures,” said Gunderman, adding ants are one of the most abundant forms of life on the planet and can carry 30 times their weight.

They also have intricate social structures and work together for the betterment of their colonies.

“Maybe there’s some lessons for humans,” he said.