It's Flying Ants Day

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Very striking flying ant phenomena in our garden today (Cambridge).

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Today's the day here in Cumbria.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Hello! They're off again. We don't usually get more than one FAD each year, do we?

It happens on more than one day in most places, yes. And on different days in different places as well.

[Nocturnal Submission]

It happens on more than one day in most places, yes. And on different days in different places as well.

There's absolutely no romance in your soul, is there.

[DCI Harry Batt]

I find truth to be romantic.

[Gangster Octopus]

And you have no soul...

[DCI Harry Batt]

There is that.

[Sits]

Do youse in the UK still get Daddy Long-legs / Crane Fly Days? Autumn, IIRC.

[lambers]

I'm not sure if I've ever seen more than one daddy long-legs at a time. I suspect that there can only ever be one, and if the one gets killed, then another (more mundane) fly gets called up to be the new daddy long-legs, with the resultant super-powers of haphazard flying and general disorientation.

[Ginger Yellow]

Apparently it's flying sycamore seeds day. Actually got hit by one on my way to work, and the footpath was carpeted with them.

[Gangster Octopus]

Forgot to mention that it was flying ants day on Thursday in Harrow.

[Nurse Duckett]

Yep, saw a flock (?) near Southampton on Thursday.

[Southport Zeb]

Yep, saw a flock (?) near Southampton on Thursday.

I think swarm is the usual team.

I've seen quite a lot around today.

[DCI Harry Batt]

I've seen none this year.

[Nurse Duckett]

I think swarm is the usual team.

That's the one! Ta.

[DCI Harry Batt]

It's a whoop, a whoop of gorillas. It's a flange of baboons.

[sw2borshch]

It was Sunday in our back garden.

[Capybara]

They were out and about round here last night.

[Sits]

It was Sunday in our back garden.

It was probably Sunday everywhere else too.

[Guy Profumo]

I saw one today…

[sw2borshch]

It was probably Sunday everywhere else too.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Date_Line

[Fussbudget]

It happens on more than one day in most places, yes. And on different days in different places as well.

I can't believe this daft thread that annoys me every year is still going even after TonTon settled this "flying ants day" nonsense two years ago. Here's what the Royal Society of Biology has to say about it:

One of the primary findings from the survey was that there is certainly not only one flying ant day; the frequency in which the flying ants appear changes each year and is dependent on the weather.

Colonies also don't exhibit any significant geographical co-ordination when it comes to taking to the skies; one garden may see flying ants on one day, with neighbours seeing them weeks or even months later.

Our survey found that there is often not just one flying ant day but on as many as 96% of days between the start of June and the start of September flying ants are spotted.

[ursus arctos]

So it is not just me

[Fussbudget]

I finally had to get it off my chest

[Janik]

For Brighton station, it was yesterday. The flying ants of other parts of Brighton clearly regard the station area ants as weird, off-the-wall iconoclasts as they were staying firmly grounded everywhere else that I went to in the town.