View Full Version : Attack of the flying ants
donttread
09-04-2015, 08:15 AM
Sunday my wife and I went about 60 miles away to play a golf course we enjoy. We pocked ":flying ant day" . Millions of them swarming around from what appeared to be 2-3 different species and some very lucky predator insects as well. In a nearby parking lot they were even worse , staining windshields etc. I can remember years ago near the same area seeing a cloud of them.
Has anyone experiences this? Are each of those ants going off to start a colony or what?
Peter1469
09-04-2015, 02:37 PM
I have not seen that before. Did you take pictures?
Redrose
09-04-2015, 02:48 PM
We haven't seen flying ants, we have a golf course nearby that is thick with no-see-ums. Miserable, when you're setting up your shot they swarm you, in your eyes, ears, mouth. It can ruin a game.
We stopped playing there.
Peter1469
09-04-2015, 02:52 PM
Sounds like salt water gnats- Avon skin so soft works to keep them away. They have a no-scent version since they found out hunters where using their wives' version.
donttread
09-04-2015, 03:31 PM
I have not seen that before. Did you take pictures?
No, we should have. I wish I had a pic of the swarm that darkened the sky a few years back near your old Fort Drum haunts
donttread
09-04-2015, 03:32 PM
We haven't seen flying ants, we have a golf course nearby that is thick with no-see-ums. Miserable, when you're setting up your shot they swarm you, in your eyes, ears, mouth. It can ruin a game.
We stopped playing there.
Even if they aren't biting much they form a cloud around your head
Sunday my wife and I went about 60 miles away to play a golf course we enjoy. We pocked ":flying ant day" . Millions of them swarming around from what appeared to be 2-3 different species and some very lucky predator insects as well. In a nearby parking lot they were even worse , staining windshields etc. I can remember years ago near the same area seeing a cloud of them.
Has anyone experiences this? Are each of those ants going off to start a colony or what?
Termites swarm and some assume they are ants. (umm, see post 8 for more data)
I learned today there are Flying ants. I knew a lot about flying termites.
This is how to tell the difference.
http://www.orkin.com/termites/flying-ants-vs-termites/
donttread
09-04-2015, 04:33 PM
Termites swarm and some assume they are ants. (umm, see post 8 for more data)
We don't have a lot of termites this far north. These are ants. The funny thing is I've only ever seen the swarms in a limited area of NNY
donttread
09-04-2015, 05:07 PM
I learned today there are Flying ants. I knew a lot about flying termites.
This is how to tell the difference.
http://www.orkin.com/termites/flying-ants-vs-termites/
Interesting and perhaps some were termites, which might explain the different sizes
We don't have a lot of termites this far north. These are ants. The funny thing is I've only ever seen the swarms in a limited area of NNY
If they have the pinched waists, you are right. If the waist is not there, they are termites.
NY state has termites. I read up on the Subterranean types and they swarm when the colony gets to be about 10 years old. I have seen swarms of them myself. They tend to scare most people thinking their house is being eaten up.
http://nysipm.cornell.edu/whats_bugging_you/termites/default.asp
Termites have enemies. It is possible ants eat them.
Dr. Who
09-04-2015, 07:28 PM
Sunday my wife and I went about 60 miles away to play a golf course we enjoy. We pocked ":flying ant day" . Millions of them swarming around from what appeared to be 2-3 different species and some very lucky predator insects as well. In a nearby parking lot they were even worse , staining windshields etc. I can remember years ago near the same area seeing a cloud of them.
Has anyone experiences this? Are each of those ants going off to start a colony or what?
You are right about starting a colony, however you were also witnessing a massive ant orgy after which all the males die and the females go off to establish new colonies.
http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/Pests/flyant.htm
If you want to know the bugs of NY State, check out this site.
http://www.insectidentification.org/insects-by-state.asp?thisState=New%20York
gamewell45
09-04-2015, 08:51 PM
Sunday my wife and I went about 60 miles away to play a golf course we enjoy. We pocked ":flying ant day" . Millions of them swarming around from what appeared to be 2-3 different species and some very lucky predator insects as well. In a nearby parking lot they were even worse , staining windshields etc. I can remember years ago near the same area seeing a cloud of them.
Has anyone experiences this? Are each of those ants going off to start a colony or what?
I wonder if you are confusing them with "love bugs"? I've seen them and from what you are describing it sounds like them.
Btw it would make a great title for a Sci Fi movie. :)
donttread
09-04-2015, 10:35 PM
If they have the pinched waists, you are right. If the waist is not there, they are termites.
NY state has termites. I read up on the Subterranean types and they swarm when the colony gets to be about 10 years old. I have seen swarms of them myself. They tend to scare most people thinking their house is being eaten up.
http://nysipm.cornell.edu/whats_bugging_you/termites/default.asp
I'm sure we have termites but they don't do a lot of house damage here in NNY. Very different climate than NYC for example. Carpenter ants are a bigger problem here.
donttread
09-04-2015, 10:36 PM
I wonder if you are confusing them with "love bugs"? I've seen them and from what you are describing it sounds like them.
Btw it would make a great title for a Sci Fi movie. :)
No, I've heard about the love bugs
I'm sure we have termites but they don't do a lot of house damage here in NNY. Very different climate than NYC for example. Carpenter ants are a bigger problem here.
What is NNY?
Peter1469
09-05-2015, 01:50 AM
Northern New York.
donttread
09-05-2015, 08:53 AM
You are right about starting a colony, however you were also witnessing a massive ant orgy after which all the males die and the females go off to establish new colonies.
http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/Pests/flyant.htm
So I was watching.... ant porn? New low for me! LOL No , that actually answers the question I had of how they find other ants to impregnate them after they fly away. But they apparently fly away pregnant.
donttread
09-05-2015, 08:55 AM
What is NNY?
More like Vermont than what most people think of as NY and much colder and snowier than southern MY
More like Vermont than what most people think of as NY and much colder and snowier than southern MY
Do you mean north of Albany close to Canada? I hear it gets very cold there. Insects can be stopped just by cold.
donttread
09-05-2015, 04:26 PM
Do you mean north of Albany close to Canada? I hear it gets very cold there. Insects can be stopped just by cold.
Yes about 175 miles from Albany and about an hour from the Canadian border
Yes about 175 miles from Albany and about an hour from the Canadian border
I got no further north in NY than the toll road to Buffalo. And it was in fall. Nice weather then.
donttread
09-06-2015, 05:57 PM
Last year Buffalo got 6 feet of snow in one storm
Private Pickle
09-07-2015, 01:57 PM
Sunday my wife and I went about 60 miles away to play a golf course we enjoy. We pocked ":flying ant day" . Millions of them swarming around from what appeared to be 2-3 different species and some very lucky predator insects as well. In a nearby parking lot they were even worse , staining windshields etc. I can remember years ago near the same area seeing a cloud of them.
Has anyone experiences this? Are each of those ants going off to start a colony or what?
Did they have lots of bling?
donttread
09-07-2015, 07:06 PM
Did they have lots of bling?
Nope just wings
Private Pickle
09-07-2015, 08:07 PM
Nope just wings
Ahhh...was wondering if their were eleg-Ants
donttread
09-08-2015, 08:41 AM
Ahhh...was wondering if their were eleg-Ants
Groan
Private Pickle
09-08-2015, 01:52 PM
Groan
Were they black? It could have been the presid-Ant.
donttread
09-08-2015, 02:34 PM
Were they black? It could have been the presid-Ant.
No but I met one named Adam
Private Pickle
09-08-2015, 10:01 PM
No but I met one named Adam
Did he look like a drag queen?
donttread
09-09-2015, 05:34 AM
Did he look like a drag queen?
The PC term is "transgender small winged creature"
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.1.8 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.