Flying ants fill our skies every year on flying ant day. Although the name suggests otherwise, flying ant day is not a single day, but closer to a season.

Every season, researchers from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, the University of Leeds and the University of Exeter launch a citizen science survey to record flying ant days.

Ants can take flight on different days in different places across the UK, and typically fly when temperatures are warm, winds are low, and recent rain has softened the soil.

Black garden ants generally take flight between July and August, although the full season is from June to September. If the UK experiences a period of hot weather, combined with low winds and recent rainfall, greater emergences of flying ants can be expected.

“Their nests often produce more than one emergence per year, and that’s why flying ant day is actually more of a flying ant season,” explains researcher Tom Dally from the University of Leeds.

New queen ants and young male ants take to the air to mate and start new colonies. For the new queen ants, flying ant day is the last time in their lifespan that they will be above ground.

The flying ant survey is run by the BioDAR Project, a unique team of ecologists and atmospheric scientists who are developing new ways to monitor insect diversity and abundance. 

The BiodDAR Project is led by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, the University of Leeds, and the University of Exeter.

The survey first started in 2020 in response to lockdown as it allowed researchers to conduct research in areas they did not have access to.

Since then, researchers have called on the public to help them understand when and where ants are taking flight each year. Anyone can take part by filling in a short online survey whenever they see winged ants on the ground or in the air.

The BiodDAR team uses the UK’s national weather radar network – usually used for detecting rain and cloud droplets – as a flying insect detection system.

To do this, they are using 3D insect models, live experiments and computer algorithms to understand what a radar sees when different insects enter its field of view. Researchers then use real-world sightings of flying ants reported through the survey to help confirm whether they have successfully spotted these insects using weather radar.

Insects are essential to our ecosystems, supporting plant pollination and food chains. However, with the variety of wildlife on Earth declining, we need to build a clearer picture of insect populations.

With better wildlife monitoring, we can understand how man-made changes to our landscape are affecting insects, including the impact of light pollution, urbanisation, and farming policies.

If the BioDAR Project is successful in using weather radar to monitor insect populations, policy-makers, environmental agencies and members of the public will all have access to BioDAR’s findings, supporting decision making and action.

For the last two years thousands of people have reported when and where they saw flying ants, helping the BioDAR Project determine whether they have detected flying ants using weather radar. This year, researchers hope to get even more people to respond to the survey. 

When flying ants appear near you, remember to close your windows, and let us know where you saw them.