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Post by UKantz on Apr 13, 2012 14:13:27 GMT
Today I went to my local wood on a walk, and on a rather large nest 100s of winged males! :oBut no females  I know they fly early but this early, however there was rainfall last night and was nice and sunny today so this may have triggered it? I will managed to find dead males and will post pictures shortly. |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Apr 13, 2012 16:28:13 GMT
Males are often the first alates to appear on rufa nests, but the actual mating flights still won't happen until at least mid June.
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Post by UKantz on Apr 13, 2012 17:03:29 GMT
Oh, thanks wood  Lucky really as our German Shepard ran over the nest  One other question then... Why do they swarm at this time when they won't fly until June? |
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jon777
Honey Pot Ant 
Outstanding Ant Photographer
Posts: 41
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Post by jon777 on Apr 14, 2012 7:04:10 GMT
Lucky! It would be great to see some pics of this |
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Post by UKantz on Apr 14, 2012 7:41:24 GMT
I didn't have my camera at the time  But I found a dead male being carried by a worker, I tapped the worker and she just dropped him and ran so I'll upload the picture of the males I found today ;D |
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Post by Wood~Ant on Apr 14, 2012 7:51:31 GMT
Oh, thanks wood One other question then... Why do they swarm at this time when they won't fly until June? It is often the case that winged ants (both males and females) come to the surface to check out their immediate surroundings, and perhaps to test the air. It still isn't warm enough yet for them to give off the mating pheromones and start flapping their wings, and worker ants often stop any early attempts at flying as they know it is not yet time. Ants seem to have a built in clock which tells them when the time to fly is exactly right, and once the female alates take to the air they give off a strong scent which triggers the males to follow. At this time there may well be males in abundance, but the females are still developing in the nest and will eat well before they go out into the big wide world. While some newly mated queens will be found and taken back to their mother nest, others will have to found new nests, so they are far from ready to fly away at this time. |
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Post by UKantz on Apr 14, 2012 8:04:01 GMT
1 Attachments:
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Post by UKantz on Apr 14, 2012 8:05:19 GMT
no 2 Attachments:
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Post by UKantz on Apr 14, 2012 8:09:17 GMT
no.3 I know its not the best pictures in the world, but I might be going to the wood again next week so I might get to catch them in action and get a picture  jon777, your pictures are brilliant!  Though I don't really want a leaf cutter ant on my finger Attachments:
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