Weather Eye
Jul 10, 2017 03:15:57 #
Weather Eye.
Wimbledon suffered an invasion of the tennis courts on Wednesday - flying black ants filled the air, with so many insects on the wing the player's accidently swallowed them or felt them crawling up their noses.
It may be disgusting for us, but it's an amazing phenomenon that happens at about this time each year, when millions of ants across the UK grow wings and take to the air in a colossal mating ritual.
This is often called flying ants day, but it's a myth that all the ants in Britain take off for their mating flight on a single day each year; there are actually a few big flying ant days.
All it takes is a spell of warm weather, a downpour and when it turns dry again the winged ants emerge from the ground. Recent surveys revealed that the ants come out over a few weeks, usually with several peaks.
"Many people tend to think that there is one national flying ant day and the media are keen to report it, but our research has shown that's absolutely not the case", Adam Hart of the University of Gloucestershire explained after the summer of 2016.
"We have seen many ant flying days' across the country".
The males wait underground for weeks, ready for the queens to emerge as the days lengthen and the temperature becomes just right.
When the weather turns hot and muggy the conditions are perfect for ants to lift off; in fact, the sultry and calm conditions before a thunderstorm are ideal, which is why ants were used in folklore for forecasting thunderstorms.
If conditions are similar across the country, millions of ants can take off and mate with ants from other colonies.
The ants can land anywhere, on trees, cars, clothing and even on Wimbledon tennis courts and plenty get eaten by birds and many other predators. After mating, the queens drop their wings and start a new colony, while the males die.
Paul Simons
Wimbledon suffered an invasion of the tennis courts on Wednesday - flying black ants filled the air, with so many insects on the wing the player's accidently swallowed them or felt them crawling up their noses.
It may be disgusting for us, but it's an amazing phenomenon that happens at about this time each year, when millions of ants across the UK grow wings and take to the air in a colossal mating ritual.
This is often called flying ants day, but it's a myth that all the ants in Britain take off for their mating flight on a single day each year; there are actually a few big flying ant days.
All it takes is a spell of warm weather, a downpour and when it turns dry again the winged ants emerge from the ground. Recent surveys revealed that the ants come out over a few weeks, usually with several peaks.
"Many people tend to think that there is one national flying ant day and the media are keen to report it, but our research has shown that's absolutely not the case", Adam Hart of the University of Gloucestershire explained after the summer of 2016.
"We have seen many ant flying days' across the country".
The males wait underground for weeks, ready for the queens to emerge as the days lengthen and the temperature becomes just right.
When the weather turns hot and muggy the conditions are perfect for ants to lift off; in fact, the sultry and calm conditions before a thunderstorm are ideal, which is why ants were used in folklore for forecasting thunderstorms.
If conditions are similar across the country, millions of ants can take off and mate with ants from other colonies.
The ants can land anywhere, on trees, cars, clothing and even on Wimbledon tennis courts and plenty get eaten by birds and many other predators. After mating, the queens drop their wings and start a new colony, while the males die.
Paul Simons
Jul 11, 2017 07:43:52 #
Leicaflex wrote:
Weather Eye. br br Wimbledon suffered an invasion... (show quote)
Nature is amazing. I've seen shows on TV about events like this.
Jul 11, 2017 20:17:12 #
Now that's one match I would have watched. Tennis is like watching paint dry.
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