h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>>Not in the UK but every summer day is ant day here!

Where is that, Deakie?

It sounds like you've got that breed of ants from the old Tom & Jerry cartoons, who make off with all the picnic contents on their backs.

I've seen very few insects of any kind this summer.

No ants at all.

TRiG.

We've only seen flying ants with small wings so far.

We have a resident robin sitting on the wall in the front garden, just waiting to pick them off!


lil x

quotes, we live in Cyprus - ant central!

My local ants all flew during that hot spell we had in the spring. No sign of any this week but there are lots of other flying insects, particularly the blasted horseflies most of which have feasting on me.

I've seen no flying ants yet and we usually get plenty. Mind you, I was at the seaside on Wednesday so maybe that was the day.

I live half way up a hill and I swear it's a full-on anthill. When I first moved into this house there was a greenhouse at the top of the garden. I couldn't believe how many flying ants appeared on the day. Ew. Can't stand the things.

Luckily the only ants I see in the house are random lone ones which probably came in on the dog and I let them go about their business.

I haven't really been troubled by bugs this year, except the clouds of (what I think of as) midges I have to walk through when I'm walking the dog.

Deb

We've had very few wasps here in Sussex this year, what about elsewhere?

Haven't had any here yet and didn't seen any at all at Legoland last week (apart from in their wasp traps but there weren't that many in there either).

On the other hand it is still quite early for wasps - they tend to emerge in numbers in mid August (we always tried to time guide camp for the first or second week of the holidays for this reason).

Mol

I hope we don't have many wasps this year. I'm going to a convention the weekend after next and, the last time they had it (two years ago) the front of the main building was swarming with them. There was the constant dilemna of whether to stay in the boiling hot bar or go out to the cooler but wasp-infested balcony...

Judging by the amount of rain over the last couple of months, I think a lot of ants have probably drowned. Wasps don't fly in the rain, so their foraging for food and nest material must be curtailed?

The types with aquatic larval stages are doing well. Our local house martins seem to have a larger number of young this year at least, for which I am glad, as they keep the insect population down, I should imagine.

The day before this thread started I saw a few flying ants about so thought that they had flown.
I checked their normal haunts and there was no sign of action so I thought they had failed this year because of the wet weather
They were just biding their time and today they are off

We had ours yesterday.

Millions around on the bike ride home yesterday here too.

<BB<

Still haven't seen many ants, but has anyone else had a bumper crop of earwigs this year? I've never seen so many!

Here, in Fleet Street, London, yesterday.

This morning, the pavements around where I work where sprinkled with a quantity of very small winged ants, not like the usual large males. But still enough to be noticed, and the first time I've seen them.

I have seen de-winged males in quantity previously, but not small ones.

MMF

Just saw this article on the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/19963128

Quote from the article 'The notion of an annual flying ant day, when swarms of ants emerge and take to the air in mass mating flights, is a "myth", scientists say.'

Wow! So I've *seen* an actual myth!!!! This is really exciting.

Tell me, do these scientists *actually go outdoors* at all?

Mol

It does make you wonder...

I read a study recently that proved that sitting down all day was bad for you.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19910888

What wonders will be uncovered in the future?

Really? You saw *all* the ants nests in the whole area sprout wings at once? It doesn't take many nests to produce a lot of ants, so that it might seem like they are all out on the same day.