FLYING ANTS SEASON is once more upon us.

Dublin residents have been recording increased numbers of winged ants in gardens and footpaths. Sightings have been reported in Lucan, Clondalkin, and Kilmainham

The black garden ant, found in gardens across Ireland, engages in what is known as a nuptial flight. The breeding males and females grow wings as part of their mating season. Afterwards, the females bite off their wings and seek out somewhere to lay their eggs and build a colony.

The males die soon afterwards, their purpose fulfilled.

"What time is it", says I.

"Time for take off", says them.#FlyingAnts pic.twitter.com/R5M4fsVZAq

— 📌Cllr Alan Hayes - Peace Commissioner (@AlanHayesDublin) July 22, 2024

The event, dubbed ‘flying ants day’, is commonly thought to only occur for one or two days a year. 

In 2020, the UK Meteorological Office reported what was though to be a front of rain on radar, but which turned out to be an ant swarm.

It's not raining in London, Kent or Sussex, but our radar says otherwise...📡

The radar is actually picking up a swarm of #flyingants across the southeast 🐜

During the summer ants can take to the skies in a mass emergence usually on warm, humid and windless days #flyingantday pic.twitter.com/aMF6RxR943

— Met Office (@metoffice) July 17, 2020

However, while it is commonly described as happening over only a few days, this is not actually the case.

Brendan Ryan, director of PestFree.ie, said that the period has been getting longer every year.

“I’ve been doing this job for 30 years. There’s always been a mating season that last for a couple of months, but for the last few years that’s been getting longer and longer,” he said.

“We used to see the beginning of this period of nuptial flights in May. Now we’re seeing it start in January, so a significant elongation of the mating period.”

He said that a lot of this is down to climate, specifically an increase in average temperatures. Common black ants thrive on warm, humid conditions in sunlight.

The longer season means that there are significantly more ants around this year than previously. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, Ryan said.

“They are an important food source in the ecosystem. Birds like swifts and starlings feed on them quite heavily.”

“One thing people might see are seagulls acting a bit strangely. They tend to eat so many of the ants that the build up of acidity in their stomachs makes them very drowsy,” he said.

While the ants are harmless, Ryan said that he has seen them cause problems in the past.

“I’ve seen people in a nursing home environment who have become very distressed on seeing swarms. So there is the risk of psychological danger. But ultimately they’re harmless.”

Those that succesfully find a mate will enter a hibernation period until next year, when they come out to start the cycle all over again.

Ryan’s best advice to people if they find the ants outside is to just leave them alone, and only think about calling pest controllers if they become an issue inside the home or workplace.