Dear Flying Ant Survey participants.
Thank you to everyone who has reported a flying ant sighting. Although the first sightings came early, they continued at a surprisingly steady rate until there was a peak on Friday 26 July. Yesterday we received even more reports from around the UK. I will be very interested to see whether this is the main event over, whether it continues steadily, or whether there will be a second peak similar to last year.
Lots of you have asked about why some of the ants are smaller and some are larger. I have pictures and an explanation here, along with pictures of a queen shedding her wings after mating: http://societyofbiologyblog.org/queen-chewing-off-wings/
There are also lots of rumours that gulls are drunk on flying ants – I have written about this in a blog: http://societyofbiologyblog.org/can-gulls-get-drunk-on-ants/
Thank you for your emails, your records and your enthusiasm. Keep it all coming!
Thank you and happy flying ant day. Rebecca
Dr Rebecca Nesbit MSB
www.societyofbiology.org
Follow me on Twitter @Society_Biology and @RebeccaNesbit
Seen flying ants this year? Please report your sightings!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please put your name to your comment. Comments without a name may automatically be treated as spam and might not be included.
If you do not wish your comment to be published say so in your comment. If you have a tip or sensitive information you’d prefer to share anonymously, you may do so. I will delete the comment after reading.