whats with all the flying ants about today

RuailleBuaille

I HATE the fuckers. Every year in my mam's house ther'd be hundreds of them, a mass march to the windows. Mad thing was, it was like all the birds outside knew they were coming, they'd all be outside just waiting to gobble them down.
I had forgotten all about the phenomenon until today when I stopped for a chat with a friend. I was wearing flipflops and thought I felt something tickle me, I looked down - :eek: the ground was crawling with them, as was I. :eek: Ants are great but I fucking hate those flying bastards.

marcsignal

COH wrote: »

So your saying that given the similar birth rate that the females wearing pjyamas in public down by connoly station are in fact flying ants? Because that would surprisingly make alot of sense

I didn't want to say it first

I'm might email Kevin Myres tho, and run the idea by him, just wait til you see the indo next week

RuailleBuaille

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Ffs - DUBLIN FORUM!!!!

Chip. Shoulder. Much?


Interesting that ants don't exist outside of BÁC.

:rolleyes:

JerryHandbag

Was washin my car this evening, bent down to pick up the sponge, got back up and there they were, hundreds of the poxy little bastids dancing the can-can on the roof.....LAUGHING AT ME! LAUGHING! I COULD HEAR THEM!:eek:

Flukey

French ants, were they? The president must have left a few behind him.

jaffa20

womoma wrote: »

I happen to be a keen myrmecologist.
_____________
- extract from a post I made in the nature section:

Today (Tuesday 22nd of July) was a very special day in Ireland.

The common black garden ant (Lasius Niger) earler today had its annual mating flights, and many tons of pregnant females are tonight scattered across the country, now wingless and scuttling along the ground, in search of suitable nesting grounds.

The winged males will die alone regardless of wether or not they were fortunate enough to mate, a couple of hundred feet in the air, over our heads today, oblivious to us, oblivious to them.

The females can be found everywhere now. In gardens, parks, outside your local supermarket. Maybe you have seen them. If not, go out with a torch or examine the cracks in the pavement outside your home.
Some may even still be around tomorrow, desperatly seeking out somewhere to rest, and lay their precious eggs.

Most of them will be eaten, but a tiny minority will survive to start new colonys, which may grow to a thousand (infertile daughters) strong, and this time next year, perhaps some very special daughters of theirs will make the same journey.
_____________


Incidentally, ant keeping ("ant farming") is becomming more and more popular in Germany and UK as a hobby, both for young and old alike. Each of these pregnant female ants could legally be sold within UK/Ire, for about 10 euro each (by post, in a test tube)

Wether or not it's cruel, is not for me to decide, but I chose not to collect any ants to sell (like I did last year), simply because I value my time more nowadays, and it is not worth the hassle.

The ant appreciation thread is here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=56651952&posted=1#post56651952 :P

6th

womoma wrote: »

I happen to be a keen myrmecologist.

How do we kill them?! Pick a side!

condra

You will never kill them all so it's pointless. Also pointless because they are quite harmless, and probably the most fascinating creatures on this island.

Did you know, for example, that they farm aphids? They drink aphid urine, so look after aphids and protect them from predators. Ants even "herd" aphids from one place to the next.

Undefinable

I missed flying ant day? No! I thought I saw one on the ground this morning, but figured there'd be more around if it really was a flying ant.
So disappointed now.

jaffa20

Undefinable wrote: »

I missed flying ant day? No! I thought I saw one on the ground this morning, but figured there'd be more around if it really was a flying ant.
So disappointed now.

I'll save a few eggs for you till next year :rolleyes:

condra

If anyone wanted, they could easily make a cute little ant farm with one of these queens.

jaffa20

womoma wrote: »

If anyone wanted, they could easily make a cute little ant farm with one of these queens.

That would defy "nature". Anyway, why would you want to?

condra

To observe their behaviour.

Captive ant farms can also be successfully integrated into the wild at a later stage, so you could be doing ants/nature a favour.

jaffa20

womoma wrote: »

To observe their behaviour.

Captive ant farms can also be successfully integrated into the wild at a later stage, so you could be doing ants/nature a favour.

Survival of the fittest eh? :rolleyes:

condra

Saying something and putting a face at the end but not actually making a point:rolleyes:

Dont be at yourself

Ahhh, the annual After Hours Flying Ants thread. Summertime has truly arrived.

I for one welcome our new insect overlords... etc.

kirving

There was a load around today!

Theyre coming earlier and earlier each year, look at the dates in the similar threads bit at the bottom.

Cianos

I ant day

Steve

Happened to me tonight - they started emerging from behind the skirting in the living room.

Nuked em all with a few squirts of Nippon.

*BAM*

Antocide...:pac:

0ubliette

i call them

FLANTS

el_tiddlero

i thought it was a mediocre performance by our flying ant friends.. last year they corageously attacked a pizza man as he tried to make his way through a tornado of them at my front door - this year there wasn't one in sight out my way.. saw a few in town before i went home but nothing out here - i'm disappointed they weren't here-even though i find them really freaky. There's nothing quite like the skin crawling feeling that a horde of flying ants hovering outside your door can give you..

MooseJam

Kevin Irving wrote: »

There was a load around today!

Theyre coming earlier and earlier each year, look at the dates in the similar threads bit at the bottom.

global warming people

John Mason

there were freaking hundreds of them on O'Connell Street (Dublin) last night near the traffic lights at super macs

and they are all over finglas, horrible little feckers

faceman

If you think the flying ants are nasty you should see the ones we had in Africa. They're an inch long and come out during the rainy season. They get EVERYWHERE! and they're huge.

But they taste great roasted on a fire. Local delicacy.

Piste

I hate them.


I hate them. I hate them. I hate them.


They freak me out no end. I have no idea why, they're no different to flies but I cannot stand them. When I was walking home yesterday I looked down and saw I was standing in a huge gathering of them (I hope I killed a few females). I spent the whole walk home with my eyes fixed firmly on the ground and periodically yelping and leaping to the side if one came near me and scremaing slightly when one landed on me.

I must have looked like a total nutter coming home from work.

It was so warm I wanted to take my jumper off but I was to scared of one landing on me.

When I got home I was all panicky and told my mum about how horrible it is and then she pointed out one on me and I freaked out ahnd scremed at her to get it off me.

When I was about to go to the gym I almost chickened out and didn't leave the house cos when I opened the door I saw them all flying. I wouldn't even step on them because the thought of getting one on my shoe disgusted me.

Thankfully I chilled out a bit at the gym, the endorphins or something must have calmed me down because I was alright walking home, just a bit edgy. It had cooled down a bit too so they'd scuttled back to their lairs. This morning was also grand because it wasn't warm enough for them to come out, I'm seriously dreading the walk back home though

If only we had a really hard frost (-5 degrees!) just tonight to kill them off.

There's absolutely no reason for them to freak me out at much ads they do, but they do! Walking home from the gym I kept reasoning it out in my head "they're only ants, you can brush them off, all they can do is bite you and you have cream and anti-histamine at home". That helped somewhat.

faceman wrote: »

If you think the flying ants are nasty you should see the ones we had in Africa. They're an inch long and come out during the rainy season. They get EVERYWHERE! and they're huge.

But they taste great roasted on a fire. Local delicacy.

Jesus Christ.


Never going to Africa.

WithCheesePlease

Had never heard of any of this before, or witnessed it, but was in Bushy Park yesterday evening and it was unreal, the little fvckers were everywhere! Was like something from a horror movie. Just thought they were midges...

Love2love

I really hate them but it was hilarious to look at people running down the road waving their arms like lunatics.

Will there be more today because if so I am getting the bus. I really hate them

Hal1

irishbird wrote: »

there were freaking hundreds of them on O'Connell Street (Dublin) last night near the traffic lights at super macs

and they are all over finglas, horrible little feckers

They where probably waiting for the nightlink :pac:, there gone back to Finglas thanks fook.

faceman

Piste wrote: »

Jesus Christ.


Never going to Africa.

Just for you so...

http://www.diy-pest-control.com/picture-of-flying-ants.html

http://kenyakidscan.org/2000/05/07/eating-flying-ants-a-gourmets-guide/

Piste

I refuse to open those ¬.¬













In work

jayteecork

Flying ants are truly spawn of Hell.

Jesus, flying ant day has it's own entry on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ant_day

BattlingCheese

ahh flying ant day, nearly as good as big fast wolf spider week in Oct

MOH

0ubliette wrote: »

i call them

FLANTS

As does wikipedia

BrokenArrows wrote: »

i thought someone was just making a funny comment when they said "flying ant day" but it is actually a recognised term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ant_day

jayteecork wrote: »

Flying ants are truly spawn of Hell.

Jesus, flying ant day has it's own entry on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ant_day

Um, yes, we know?

jayteecork

Well excuuuuuuse me.
Not my fault if I'm too lazy to read the entire thread.

jaffa20

womoma wrote: »

Saying something and putting a face at the end but not actually making a point:rolleyes:

What i mean is that you are disturbing their natural habitat. Did you see the seagull all around gobbling up the females today Nature should be left alone. If birds need their food, allow them to eat the bloody feckers. Those which survive will have enough offspring for next year.

sweet-rasmus

they were pretty crazy indeed. took me a sec to realise what all those things floating about outside were. I hid inside

thx for the nature info... though i don't think i needed to know that much about the ants.

taidghbaby

i dont see what all the fuss is about......just go get yourselves a 'flying ant-eater'!!

http://www.ivtools.org/ivtools/aaron.html

supertramp

Yeah I saw one in a txi today,,,,they're huge! They looked like bullet ants.

Was in clifden the june bank holiday, it was swarmed with beetles. They were viscious, and bit everyone.

Like Mayor Quimby would do, Just release 1,000's of ant eaters to kill them off, then something bigger to get rid of the ant-eaters

0ubliette

MOH wrote: »

As does wikipedia





Um, yes, we know?

why dont you just go ****ing marry wikipedia if you love it so much

2Scoops

Madam is watching...

Irish Times/Tim O'Brien wrote:

Swarms of flying ants signify arrival of the summer of love

SWARMS OF flying ants, which have been observed in recent days, are merely engaging in their annual mating rituals and do not represent a danger to people, according to a Trinity College Dublin entomologist.

Sightings of large numbers of the common black garden ant - or Lasius Niger - have been reported in the Dublin area in particular, although experts say their prevalence depends on localised weather conditions.

The ants have disturbed the tranquillity of parks and gardens in the capital and elsewhere.

There have even been reports on an internet discussion board of them causing people to flee Bushy Park in Terenure, south Dublin, in an excited fashion on Monday evening.

People should rest assured, however, that the ants are less interested in humans at this time than in each other, Dr Mark Brown of Trinity College's zoology department has pointed out.

The ants have suddenly begun mating because of a recent rise in temperature coupled with an increase in humidity, he explained. The males, indeed, have been waiting some weeks for the opportunity provided by the emergence of the females now that weather conditions are right.

The swarms occur when the male and female ants conjugate. Eventually the females will drop to the ground when tired of conjugating - it would be unusual if they mated with more than three partners - and break off their wings before seeking somewhere comfortable to nest, explained Dr Brown.

The female will take part in the ritual just once in her lifetime, but will retain sperm in her body, releasing it on an annual basis when she lays fertilised eggs. Over her lifetime she can have between 1,000 and 10,000 offspring.

The future for the males after the ritual mating swarm is not so rosy, however, as they waste away and die within a few days.

"Like bees, I am afraid the males are little more than flying receptacles for sperm," said Dr Brown.

Asked if there was a way the society of ants could be avoided - particularly indoors - Dr Brown said the best way to stop them getting into a house was simply to block up their access routes.

"There was a famous entomologist called Ed Wilson who was asked what he would do if ants got into his house.

"He replied 'I would watch them', which I think is good advice - they are fascinating," he added.

Those who have been bothered by the ants in recent days should take comfort from an assurance by Dr Karl Magnacca, a colleague of Dr Brown's at Trinity College.

He said swarms that last a day or two are very unlikely to occur in the same place twice.

© 2008 The Irish Times

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2008/0724/1216741027887.html

WithCheesePlease

2Scoops wrote: »

Madam is watching...

ha, was only going to post that!! I credit my post...

gearoid_healy wrote: »

Had never heard of any of this before, or witnessed it, but was in Bushy Park yesterday evening and it was unreal, the little fvckers were everywhere! Was like something from a horror movie. Just thought they were midges...

faceman

2Scoops wrote: »

Madam is watching...

Originally Posted by Irish Times/Tim O'Brien
Swarms of flying ants signify arrival of the summer of love

There have even been reports on an internet discussion board of them causing people getting the roide late at night to flee Bushy Park in Terenure, south Dublin, in an excited fashion on Monday evening.

Fixed that for him!

fozzle

Oh god - the street from the station in Thurles to my house used be impassible on flying ant day - must be 20 nests in one street. Thank feck I don't live there anymore.

BattlingCheese wrote: »

ahh flying ant day, nearly as good as big fast wolf spider week in Oct

Worst. Week. Ever. Hopefully I'll be in Germany for it this year - spotted a young one of the feckers in the bathroom this morning. SQUASH!

Jorja

It's that time of year again :mad:

http://www.rooney.org/tlc/silly/holy%20thread%20resurrection.jpg

There always around when I'm cycling, Getting in my ears and eyes.

jumpguy

Jorja wrote: »

It's that time of year again :mad:

Old thread is old.

Conor108

LET MY PEOPLE GO!!!

Rented Mule

It's like deja vu all over again.

jaffa20

jaffa20 wrote: »

Freaky little things and annoying. They followed me the whole way from work onto the train and then luas. Twas funny seeing everyone waving their hands around i still can feel them itching away at me:mad:

Hello to me in the past

crazy angel

i have not seen one flying ant today is everyone in dublin?