Flying ants invade Britain in annual summer mating ritual

Britain is being invaded by huge swarms of flying ants, experts have said.

The humid end to the summer has triggered the ants' annual 'nuptial' ritual as tiny winged insects take to the skies in search of a mate.

The common black garden ants have emerged from nests nationwide over the last few days, frustrating homeowners and beer garden drinkers.

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The flying ants are sexually active males and females who have been waiting all summer for the perfect conditions to swarm - warm, muggy, and almost pre-thunderous weather.

They grow wings and take flight, detecting insects' chemical smell to join together and fly in black swarms that can last all day.

Once a queen has mated she bites off her wings and tries to find somewhere to begin a new nest.

She may often be killed by rival colonies, but if successful, she lays eggs in her hiding place. A queen will be fertile for the rest of her life but male ants die as soon as they mate.

The eggs hatch in the bodies of infertile female workers who will build her nest, forage for food and guard their queen.

Over the winter the colony becomes dormant - although it is never fully asleep.

In the spring, the queen starts to produce fertile and winged females and males. These are cared for by the workers until it is time for the next swarm.

A spokesman for the zoology department of University of Bristol said that people have nothing to fear from the ants.

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He said: "These ant swarms are primarily triggered by a combination of temperature and humidity and when the weather is right they emerge simultaneously.

"Insects are very sensitive to humidity and the muggy weather we have experienced recently is perfect for flying ants.

"The swarms usually last 1-3 days and occur between late July and early August - but this can differ depending on regional weather systems.

"The entire species synchronises mating so that males and females from different nests can meet and prevent interbreeding.

"When mating is over the queen ants crawl off and lay their eggs while the males just die - that's their only job."

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Common black garden ants -  Latin name Lasius niger - nest underground or in rotten wood and up to 15,000 black ant workers can live in each colony.

Queen ants grow up to 9mm long and can live for 12 years while male worker ants, which can grow to 5mm long, die after mating.

Flying ant facts:

- Although black ants can bite, they usually ignore people unless their nests are being disturbed.

- Red ants sting victims with a droplet of burning formic acid - the same ingredient used in limescale remover. Some birds put red ants in the feathers to get rid of fleas and mites.

- Ants carry no diseases and they not a pest - but pollinate flowers and feed on other nuisance insects in the garden.

- Ants can "farm" aphids - bringing them into their nests to milk them for the sticky secretion honeydew.

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- They are also grow fungi in their nests, bringing in leaves that fungus can grow on. When a queen leaves the nest to find a new home, she takes a sample with her to start the new fungus farm.

- Nuptial flights often take place in hot, humid weather - giving rise to folklore that ants can foretell a thunderstorm.

- Ants must be cooked before eating to destroy the formic acid they squirt at enemies.

- The combined weight of every ant in the world is greater than the combined weight of every human.

- An ant has the largest brain for an insect, relative to its size. It has more processing power than the computer that controlled the first NASA moon mission.

- An ant brain has 250,000 brain cells compared to a human's 10 billion.

- An ant has he strength to carry food up to seven times their own body weight.

- There are 50 species of ant in Britain