Flying Ants in Vancouver – Where, When, & How

An ‘ant swarm’ is a collection of the reproductive males and females only (reproductives are the only ants with wings in a colony).

‘Swarming’ is the act of flying out of the nest to mate.

Winged reproductive ants typically swarm in the late spring, early summer but have been known to emerge any time of the year in heated structures.

After emergence, the ants mate and the male drops dead, while the queens burrow into the soil to establish new nests and begin laying more eggs. This act of mating is often referred to as the Nuptial flight.

The reason winged ants fly – and the whole reason they exist in the first place – is for reproduction. Ordinarily, in an ant colony, regular workers are sterile, and only the Queen can reproduce. However, flying ants are also reproductive, and unlike most ants, they come in both male and female.

When these flying ants swarm, it’s called a nuptial flight. The female ants will fly as high and as fast as they can, with the male ants chasing them. This ensures that only the strongest and fittest male ants reach the females and mate with them. The ants mate in the air, and the males die shortly afterward. Meanwhile, the females fly off to start new nests of their own and become queens.

When a female ant establishes a new nest, she will lose her wings. To raise her first brood of offspring, she will reabsorb the muscles that powered her wings until her offspring are old enough to feed her. On the backs of larger ants such as Carpenter ants, it’s possible to still see the scars where a queen ant once had wings.

It doesn’t help that ants aren’t particularly good at flying. Unlike wasps, ants are clumsy in flight and prone to crashing into things and people, making them a big nuisance.

You might suddenly see flying ants because it’s swarming season. Every type of ant has reproductive swarmers (or winged ants) in it’s colony and every ant colony “swarms” once a year. When insects produce a swarm, also known as a reproductive flight, it is part of the seasonal activity of certain social insects, most importantly termites and ants. Winged ants can be carpenter ants, pavement ants, moisture ants, cornfield ants etc.

Yes, there are flying ants in BC. Every type of ant has reproductive swarmers (or winged ants) in it’s colony. Winged ants can be carpenter ants, pavement ants, moisture ants, or cornfield ants. When you see flying ants, you know it’s mating season.

Every year in spring and summer, a strange thing happens. A new type of flying creature takes to the air, often in huge numbers. These bugs seem to come out of nowhere, and often disappear as quickly as they came.

Luckily, there is nothing to worry about with flying ants. They are not dangerous to humans. Swarms of winged ants are here for one single purpose, to take to the skies to make love, known as the ‘nuptial flight’.

When large numbers of winged insects suddenly appear in the home, it may be the result of an insect mating swarm. Spotting winged swarmers indicates that you potentially have a nest indoors, likely located in a wall void, or underneath the floorboards.

As we know carpenter ants have winged reproductives in their colony, so it’s important to get it investigated right away to determine if you do indeed have carpenter ants. Give us a call to set up a free onsite visit.

Flying ants themselves are harmless and don’t cause structural damage to your home. However, the rest of the worker ants in the colony might cause you trouble.

As we know, flying ants can either be pavement ants, or carpenter ants. Carpenter ants are a real menace. These wood-boring insects dig tunnels into timber framing in order to build nests. So while flying ants themselves will cause too much harm, their workers colleagues will!

With pavement ants, the same is mostly true. While the swarmers won’t cause damage, it’s the indirect damage that you should be concerned with.

If you have an infestation deep underground, which cannot be reached using standard ant control techniques, then it could require excavation work to locate and get rid of the colony. That means digging up your driveway or paths to get at the colonies under the concrete. This is your worst case scenario.

Flying ants only live up to a couple of days after flying ant day. Queen ants can live up to 15 years, but don’t spend all of that time as winged ants. Unfortunately for the male ant, the nuptial flights ask as his final swan song. Once the ants mate in the air, the males die shortly afterward, and the lucky females get to fly off to start new nests of their own and become queens.

When a female ant establishes a new nest, she will lose her wings. To raise her first brood of offspring, she will reabsorb the muscles that powered her wings until her offspring are old enough to feed her

A common misconception about ants is that winged ants are a species separate from all other ants. Every type of ant has reproductive swarmers (or winged ants) in it’s colony and every ant colony “swarms” once a year. Winged ants can be carpenter ants, pavement ants, moisture ants, cornfield ants etc.

An ant swarm is a collection of the reproductive males and females only (reproductives are the only ants with wings in a colony). After mating, the males drop dead and the females fly on to try and establish new colonies.

Flying Ant Day happens when conditions are perfect for a nuptial flight, so every ant colony in the area will swarm on the same day. A recent study found that Swarming is triggered by the weather that ants only flew on days when it was warm, not windy and conditions had improved compared to the previous day.

This can result in thousands of ants taking to the sky and making a nuisance of themselves. Often, summer events like the Wimbledon tennis championship can be interrupted by swarms of ants that can cover miles.