When and what is Flying Ant Day?

Flying Ant Day. Such a big event, they named a book after it. Or at least I did. Although my Flying Ant Day contains not a single reference to oversized winged insects within its pages.

But it’s not the purpose of this blog to wax lyrical about the most under-rated of my books. It’s to shed more light on the annual event that inspired its title.

Sex.

That’s at the heart of Flying Ant Day. The reason why male ants and new queens take to the skies is to mate. Fair play. There are plenty of humans who’ll go to the ends of the earth to find their perfect mate and enjoy a bit of rumpty pumpty. Who are we to judge?

For the insects to bother though, the weather needs to be warm and humid – fairweather shaggers you might like to call them. Which is why Flying Ant Day always occurs during the British Summer, usually some time in July or August. So the exact day differs each year depending on the conditions, and it will differ depending on where you are in the country – do the cooler northern reaches of the British Isles where it’s seldom hot or humid even have a Flying Ant Day?

Anyway, these flying ants tend to swarm, so if you see them on their annual nuptial flight, you’re likely to want to swat these amorous ants out of the way. But try not to. Let them get on with what nature is compelling them to do.

You’ll be seeing large virgin queens pursued by smaller winged males getting hot under the collar, the queens striking out on their own to start new colonies which will require male intervention, if you catch my drift.

After the deed is done, the queens chew off their wings and hunt for a nesting site – surely this would be quicker and easier if they kept their wings for a bit longer? And let’s face it, their wings are unlikely to be as nourishing as a box of chicken wings from your local chicken supplier with red and white brand colours.

Either way, queens can expect to live for up to 15 years, which is a good innings for an insect, assuming they don’t get squished or squashed, or eaten by a swift or gull.

The fate of the males? Death. Within a week. Their only purpose in life is to mate with a queen and once that’s done, that’s them done.

And that’s this blog done, but as with all good novels, the ending needs to be related to the beginning, so I’m going to put in a good word about my novel Flying Ant Day, which was good fun to write, although some people find it a struggle to read.

See what you think.

Either way, don’t expect to read about insects going at it hammer and tongues.

Instead, expect to find out what happens when humans who've been forced to remain in their homes for a year are given one day of freedom...