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 2023 we had three major flying ant days, but flying ants were about on other days too, just in much lower numbers.
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. This is because July always has the highest amount of flying ant activity, as well as major spikes in flying ant swarming.
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’.
The search data suggests that flying ants start to appear in April and activity stops sometime in March each year, but the majority of activity happens in July on specific days.
In 2023, we had a huge spike on 7th, 18th and 27th of July. July 2023’s flying ant levels were less than in previous years.
Below is a table showing flying ant annual peaks:
| 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 |
When is flying ant day 2024?
There is a very high probability that the major spikes in flying ant activity, what have been dubbed ‘flying ant day’ will be in July 2024. Beyond that, we’ll just have to wait and see what the exact dates are. We’ll be updating this post throughout July as flying ant activity unfolds.
Why flying ants fly?
Flying ants comprise new queen ants and male ants. They 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 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 grow wings, and leave the nest and start their own colonies, 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.
Do flying ants bite?
Flying ants are normally black ants, or garden ants. These are the most common ant in the UK. They do not bite, so you don’t need to worry about them if you see them. Just leave them be. Keep your windows closed to avoid having them enter your home. As mentioned earlier, the females are in search of somewhere to create a nest.
Like the black ants, red queen ants also fly in the summer. But red ants can give a nasty sting too, so watch out for them! Red ants will only sting if they feel threatened so it’s best to steer clear of red flying ants.
