{"id":29928,"date":"2025-06-30T15:12:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T15:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/?p=29928"},"modified":"2026-03-26T14:57:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T14:57:52","slug":"flying-ants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/","title":{"rendered":"10 facts about flying ants!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you been caught up in a swarm of flying ants this summer? And is there really a special ‘flying ant day’? Read on to discover more…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Flying ants are just normal ants – with wings!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ants we\u2019re most used to seeing are female black garden ants<\/strong>, marching around collecting food. But during summer, winged males<\/strong> and new queens<\/strong> of the same species take flight! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. They fly to set up new ant colonies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ants take to the skies so that queens can mate <\/strong>with males from different colonies, and set up new nests<\/strong> of their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Flying ants only swarm during hot summer weather<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For a swarm<\/strong> of ants to occur, conditions must be just right \u2013 they\u2019re usually triggered by hot and humid <\/strong>weather in July or August. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. ‘Flying ant day’ is a myth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Because so many ants appear in the same place at the same time, the phenomenon is often known as \u2018flying ant day<\/strong>\u2019 \u2013 but it\u2019s really more of a short flying ant season<\/strong>. Depending on weather, the winged insects may appear in different parts of the country any time between June and September. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. There’s safety in numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The reason the ants appear in such big numbers is that it helps protect<\/strong> them from predators. Flying all together all at once also gives them a much better chance of finding mates<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. They’re harmless<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These flying beasties might be super annoying, but they won\u2019t hurt you<\/strong>. Plus they provide loads of extra food for hungry birds<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Tennis stars hate them!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, flying ants invaded the court<\/strong> at Wimbledon<\/strong>, distracting tennis players and making news headlines around the world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Female flying ants are bigger than males<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brave enough to take a closer look? You\u2019ll see that some of the winged ants are much larger than others. The bigger ones are the queens <\/strong>\u2013 they\u2019re up to 15mm<\/strong> in length.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Queens bite their own wings off!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After mating, queens chew off their wings<\/strong> and crawl around looking for a place to dig a new nest. Look out for their discarded wings<\/strong> on the floor!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Flying ants are also called alates<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alates<\/strong> is the name given to the winged form of many insects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fascinated by insects? Download our FREE insect safari primary resource <\/a>and go on a bug adventure in your own garden!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to know more?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ants are one of the world’s strongest creatures! Head to our amazing ant facts<\/a> for the lowdown!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, check out our cool bug facts<\/a>, and discover why ladybirds<\/a> ooze yellow goo from their legs!
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you seen any flying ants this summer? Leave a comment below!<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you been caught up in a swarm of flying ants this summer? And is there really a special ‘flying ant day’? Read on to discover more… 1. Flying ants are just normal ants – with wings! The ants we\u2019re most used to seeing are female black garden ants, marching around collecting food. But during … Continue reading 10 facts about flying ants!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135374,"featured_media":304276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[733,2780,2779,2782,2781,246,2783],"christmas-category":[],"class_list":["post-29928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insects","tag-ants","tag-flying-ant-day","tag-flying-ants","tag-flying-ants-swarm","tag-flying-ants-uk","tag-insects","tag-uk-wildlife","countries-ireland","countries-united-kingdom"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n10 facts about flying ants! - National Geographic Kids<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our facts about flying ants! Why do these ants take flight? Is there really a 'flying ant day'? Find out in our flying ant facts!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29928\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Facts about flying ants! | Nat Geo Kids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Have you been caught up in a swarm of flying ants this summer? And is there really a special 'flying ant day'? Read on to discover more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"National Geographic Kids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ngkids\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-30T15:12:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-26T14:57:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Flying-ant-facts-FB.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Georgia Harrison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NGKidsUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NGKidsUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Georgia Harrison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Georgia Harrison\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4942765a357d934f193c6e7d1158e9c\"},\"headline\":\"10 facts about flying ants!\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-30T15:12:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-26T14:57:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"commentCount\":506,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/flyingants_featured.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"ants\",\"flying ant day\",\"flying ants\",\"flying ants swarm\",\"flying ants uk\",\"insects\",\"uk wildlife\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Insects\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/\",\"name\":\"10 facts about flying ants! - National Geographic Kids\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/flyingants_featured.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-30T15:12:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-26T14:57:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4942765a357d934f193c6e7d1158e9c\"},\"description\":\"Check out our facts about flying ants! Why do these ants take flight? Is there really a 'flying ant day'? Find out in our flying ant facts!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/flyingants_featured.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/flyingants_featured.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":210,\"caption\":\"flying ant day | a swarm of flying ants takes to the skies\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/animals\\\/insects\\\/flying-ants\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"10 facts about flying ants!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/\",\"name\":\"National Geographic Kids\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4942765a357d934f193c6e7d1158e9c\",\"name\":\"Georgia Harrison\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b9cb87bf9ffb226c801075c437c7c6af1c4f1af7e5391182c289197a220be3a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b9cb87bf9ffb226c801075c437c7c6af1c4f1af7e5391182c289197a220be3a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b9cb87bf9ffb226c801075c437c7c6af1c4f1af7e5391182c289197a220be3a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Georgia Harrison\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/ie\\\/author\\\/georgiaharrison\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 facts about flying ants! - National Geographic Kids","description":"Check out our facts about flying ants! Why do these ants take flight? Is there really a 'flying ant day'? Find out in our flying ant facts!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29928","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Facts about flying ants! | Nat Geo Kids","og_description":"Have you been caught up in a swarm of flying ants this summer? And is there really a special 'flying ant day'? Read on to discover more...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/","og_site_name":"National Geographic Kids","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ngkids\/","article_published_time":"2025-06-30T15:12:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-26T14:57:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Flying-ant-facts-FB.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Georgia Harrison","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NGKidsUK","twitter_site":"@NGKidsUK","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Georgia Harrison","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/"},"author":{"name":"Georgia Harrison","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/a4942765a357d934f193c6e7d1158e9c"},"headline":"10 facts about flying ants!","datePublished":"2025-06-30T15:12:56+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-26T14:57:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/"},"wordCount":451,"commentCount":506,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2023\/06\/flyingants_featured.jpg","keywords":["ants","flying ant day","flying ants","flying ants swarm","flying ants uk","insects","uk wildlife"],"articleSection":["Insects"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/","url":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/","name":"10 facts about flying ants! - National Geographic Kids","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2023\/06\/flyingants_featured.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-30T15:12:56+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-26T14:57:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/a4942765a357d934f193c6e7d1158e9c"},"description":"Check out our facts about flying ants! Why do these ants take flight? Is there really a 'flying ant day'? Find out in our flying ant facts!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2023\/06\/flyingants_featured.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2023\/06\/flyingants_featured.jpg","width":300,"height":210,"caption":"flying ant day | a swarm of flying ants takes to the skies"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/animals\/insects\/flying-ants\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 facts about flying ants!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/","name":"National Geographic Kids","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/a4942765a357d934f193c6e7d1158e9c","name":"Georgia Harrison","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b9cb87bf9ffb226c801075c437c7c6af1c4f1af7e5391182c289197a220be3a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b9cb87bf9ffb226c801075c437c7c6af1c4f1af7e5391182c289197a220be3a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b9cb87bf9ffb226c801075c437c7c6af1c4f1af7e5391182c289197a220be3a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Georgia Harrison"},"url":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/author\/georgiaharrison\/"}]}},"wps_subtitle":"Find out why ants take to the skies!","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135374"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29928"},{"taxonomy":"christmas-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/christmas-category?post=29928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}