(WKYT) – Swarms of flying ants have been appearing across Kentucky, and a University of Kentucky entomologist says the phenomenon is tied to recent weather conditions.
Ants are typically found on the ground near their anthills, but the insects have grown wings and are appearing in swarms across the state.
“When ants are winged, that means they’ve entered a reproductive phase,” said Dr. Jonathan Larson, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky.
What is a nuptial flight?
When new queens and males from a colony are ready, they grow wings and fly out in a swarm to mate — a process known as a nuptial flight.
“After they’re done, the males will perish and the females will fly away and those new queens will found new colonies, hopefully a little further away from the main colony,” Larson said.
When do the swarms occur?
Larson said the flights can be predicted based on local weather conditions.
“It often happens after a rain, so it makes sense that we’ve seen them kind of after these sort of major rain events that we’ve had, but it can also just be seasonal,” Larson said. “Some of them happen earlier in the summer, some of them happen later in the summer closer to the fall.”
The flights are not rare, but they typically last one to two days.