Windward Oahu residents have been coping with uninvited early-morning guests recently. Still and humid mornings following a night of heavy showers have brought out swarms of ants.,
Flying ants, sounds odd but truth is all ant species have wings and the swarming is a sign of mating. When we hear about swarming insects attracted to lights we often think of termites. But these aren’t termites; they’re flying ants.
"They’re not looking to sting or bite you or anything it’s just kind of a nuisance just the numbers of them," said entomologist Paul Krushelnycky, of the University of Hawaii’s Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. "Their objective is to find either the male or the female, mate and go find a place to start a new colony."
Hawaii is home to nearly 60 ant species and all of the species have wings.
"The ones with the wings are just the queens and the males. The workers that you see out there running around your kitchen or your yard they’ll never grow wings," said Krushelnycky.
The recent swarms have happened in different neighborhoods, involving different species. They surface at the first sign of light, whether it’s a computer, bathroom, kitchen or garage light. But what’s bringing them out?
"It often is weather related," said Krushelnycky. "It varies between species but a lot of time it does seem to happen frequently after a heavy rainfall."
And more importantly what are they doing?
"It’s the circle of life; yeah, yeah that’s right," he said.
Ants are social insects that live in colonies. The immature ones that are destined to become queens or males emerge as adults with wings.
"Usually at some point, they’ll have these swarms where they’ll go out and they’ll find each other and they’ll mate and they’ll start new colonies." said Krushelnycky.
Pest experts say we can’t stop the mating, but we can reduce the number of swarms by targeting colonies, using pesticides or perimeter foundation treatments, like bating.
"It may be in your hard it maybe nearby or it could be somewhere more distant and they might just be attracted to lights or something else," said Krushelnycky.
And while they’re objective is to find a mate, be aware.
"They will sting you, not particularly painful but they’ll get your attention," said Krushelnycky.
One other interesting fact, most of the ants we see walking around our homes and yards are females. Once males mate, they die.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
