Ants With Wings – It is thought by the majority of the human population that the queens of the colonies are the only ants with wings.
A closer look into the mating habits of ants will give you a better idea of the actuality of flying ants.
Each colony starts with a fertilized queen, which is basically a miracle in and of itself.
The fertilized female ants with wings will find a nesting place and begin laying eggs.
During this time, she will shed her wings and use the stored nutrition from the wing muscle area to sustain her through the rearing process of the brood.
An estimated one out of one thousand fertilized female ants survive this process to establish a new colony.
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Should a lucky queen make it through until her first, small brood has matured, her worker ants will begin to take care of her, broadening the nest and gathering food, tending to the new larvae and fending off danger.
The queen will decide how many of her troops will be workers, and the rest of her clan will consist of fertile male and female ants with wings.
The ants have no duties aside from breeding. The male winged ants will far outnumber the females, as the males will die shortly after mating.
When the breeding season sets upon the colony, the winged ants are dispelled, never to return.
The males, as mentioned, will die shortly after mating, and the females are to carry on the cycle once again, finding a nesting site and attempting the near impossible feat of developing a new colony.
In the instance that a queen dies shortly after her new brood has matured, the cycle ends, and the young, small clan will perish.
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The massive movement of ants with wings is an astounding sight to behold, as rarely do they cause a disturbance to their surroundings.
Aside from the occasional instance of the flying ants coming indoors through chimneys or settling on moving farm equipment, the ants are of one mind.
There is no feeding, no fighting, no aggression. The mission is a peaceful one, and the intended outcome a miracle in waiting.
If you are experiencing instances where ants with wings are coming through your walls and cracks, you may have a carpenter or pharaoh ant issue which needs to be addressed.
As mentioned, it is not unheard of for parts of a flying ant migration to make their way into buildings and onto shiny, large objects, but this is rare and is not intentional on the part of the ants.
If the ants are immerging from within the foundations of your home, they have most likely been there for quite a while.
