The ants are coming - or is that going..?

I want a picture – with scale!

BerraBoy68 said :

I am (amazingly forthis time of year,I know) being serious. I flicked this sucker off the car but wish I’d kept it. My son is getting an Ant Farm for Xmas and this one ant would have filled the sucker.

kambah seems to have heaps of the buggers. the lurking sparrows are cleaning them up, but only whilst they aren’t stuffed and bloated.

I am (amazingly forthis time of year,I know) being serious. I flicked this sucker off the car but wish I’d kept it. My son is getting an Ant Farm for Xmas and this one ant would have filled the sucker.

The gullible ingenue who is an idiot in me says, “Wow! That’s amazing! You may have even discovered a new mutant species,” and the bitter and crusty skeptic wannabe says, “Do you have photographic evidence for this, BerraBoy68, ’cause I sure might look silly for believing you!”

Speaking of ants, I think I saw their leader the other night.

Getting back in the car after looking at Xmas lights on Sunday night, my son says, “what’s that on the car”. I take a look thinking it’s just a leaf and was staggered to see it was an ant about 3-4cm’s long, black and thick as my litle finger. It was much bigger than a bullant and it wasn’t a fire-ant. Biggest sucker I’ve ever seen.

Depending on what happens for the rest of the day, there might be some more storm-action this arvo when the trough line moves through. Depends on air moisture levels, and warming.

Madman said :

Well it’s raining today so that would kind of explain it!

fairly certain that any winged or otherwise large ants did not enjoy the downpour. shame that the lightning was obscured by the heavy rain, will have to set the tripod up for some shots next storm….

Now what am I going to wear to my daughter’s 26th birthday instead of that cute little blue dress??

Damn you, ants!! Damn you all!

Well it’s raining today so that would kind of explain it!

bigfeet said :

Obviously the ants are taking more of an interest in what is going on around than you have:

There’s no point in acting all surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display in your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now.

ROFLAO!

So long and thanks for all the crumbs ….

*chuckle*

Obviously the ants are taking more of an interest in what is going on around than you have:

There’s no point in acting all surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display in your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now.

Interesting. I saw this once as a kid and thought I was seeing things.

“Flying Ant Day or Flant Day is an informal term for a day on which queen ants emerge from the nest to begin their nuptial flight. In most species, the male ants also fly alongside them, although they are smaller and less noticeable. The queens fly for a while – sometimes being dispersed very long distances, and sometimes going only a few meters – then mate, and drop to the ground where they lose their wings, and attempt to start a colony.

The mass of flying insects often attracts the attention of predators such as birds, and it is common to see flocks of feeding birds gorging on the readily available food.

This phenomenon occurs in many colonies simultaneously when the local weather conditions are appropriate, to reduce the effectiveness of predation and to ensure that the queens and males from different colonies stand a chance of meeting and interbreeding. It therefore has the appearance of being a ‘timed’ event or that the ants somehow communicate. However neither of these is likely to be the case – it is simply a common response to temperature, humidity and windspeed.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ant_day

Fascinating.

I saw there huge ants doing exactly that – it was like a nature program – they all came out of their nest and then flew west – at around 1700hrs….. Was cool to watch.

Nothing a can of WD40 and a lighter won’t fix…

We have a fair few of them too..

…which the cat can eat. I’m not fussed.

I noticed the ants seemed busy yesterday too – mainly the regular small black ones but a few bullants too. No idea why.

Same here! Last night I noticed heaps of activity in the railway sleeper steps in our backyard, their entrance to the nest is the hole that a spike used to go through. Although this time I didn’t see any winged ants, I did last year and it was an amazing spectacle that only lasted 20 minutes or so, watching them take flight.

Tonight, they are again congregating around their entrance in huge numbers, but I haven’t seen any winged ones.

Our ants aren’t bullants though, they may be large in size but they have really tiny nippers and I’m not worried by them at all.