Flying Ant Day 2024 happened on the 17th of July 2024. Well, at least that was when most of the UK’s flying ant activity occurred this year. However, while the appearance of flying ants was concentrated on and around the 17th of July, it’s possible that you will be witnessing swarms of flying ants in your area, on a different date. Here’s why:
The British concept of ‘flying ant day’ is a bit of a misnomer. Flying ants, usually of the species Lasius Niger (commonly known as a black ant), can come out to fly on pretty much any warm, calm day. They only come out when wind speeds are less than 6.3 meters per second and temperatures are above 13 degrees Celsius. These weather conditions are non-negotiable for flying ants.
‘Flying Ant Day’ can differ from location to location, in line with the weather. According to our own research, the vast majority of flying ant activity is generally concentrated over a short time span each July, which explains the perception of “flying ant day”.
In July 2024, there was a small spike in flying ant activity on 11th July, followed by a very large spike in flying ants on the 17th and 18th of July.
Back in July 2023, the UK had three major spikes in flying ant activity, occurring on 7th, 18th and 27th of July. July 2023’s flying ant levels were less than in previous years. Over the past 7 years, all spikes in flying ant activity occurred in the month of July, only the specific dates varied from year to year.
With British summers being quite unpredictable and diverse weatherwise, it’s not always possible to predict when exactly Flying Ant Day will be. But using historic data we can determine that July is almost always ‘flying ant month’ across the vast majority of Britain.
Historic UK search engine data for the query ‘flying ants’, shows huge spikes occurring each July. The spikes in searches coincide with UK media reportings of flying ants.
These searches are spurred by people coming across swarms of flying ants and using search engines to get more information about them, so we can infer that the spikes in searches correspond to spikes in flying ant activity. Here is the five year chart showing searches for ‘flying ants’.
Below is a table showing the annual date ranges where levels of flying ant activity in the UK were the highest.
| Year | Flying ant annual peak |
| 2017 | 2nd – 8th July |
| 2018 | 1st – 7th July |
| 2019 | 21st -27th July |
| 2020 | 12th – 18th July |
| 2021 | 11th – 17th July |
| 2022 | 3rd – 16th July |
| 2023 | 7th – 28th July |
| 2024 | 11th – 20th July |
When is flying ant day 2024?
Flying ant day 2024 occurred between the 11th and 20th of July, with the largest spike in flying ants activity taking places on the 17th and 18th of July. Most Brits, will have experienced flying ant day on either the 17th or 18th, however depending on your location, you may have witnessed this natural wonder on a different date.
Why flying ants fly?
Flying ants comprise new queen ants and male drone ants. These ants have wings so that they can take to the skies to mate. The mating happens mid-flight during which the queens will mate with several males.
Once fertilised by a male, the young female queen will find somewhere to start her own colony. When she’s found a suitable location, she’ll remove her own wings and get to work laying eggs.
The eggs will hatch, giving birth to female worker ants.
These female worker ants will ensure the prosperity of the colony through the work they do. They will never grow wings or become queens. The following year, when weather permits, the queen will lay female queen ants that will have wings, and they too will leave the nest to mate and start their own colonies somewhere new, just like their mother did.
The sperm the queen received on her ‘nuptial flight’ will last her a lifetime, which can be up to 15 years. She will not mate again, and could spawn a colony as big as 20,000 ants.
The flying male ants will die within just a few days of the mating flight, having served their purpose.
