One December morning we were busy with our daily tasks setting up the Kokoriba stoep for guests when we noticed a flying ant. A big flying ant, more or less the size of a wasp or a cricket.
The flying ant landed and started a very strange ritual.
It was walking in circles around and around and around...
and then shed its wings.
The round about continued for a couple more minutes.
It then started to dig a hole in the ground.
Moving from one digging site to another
We found the following explanations for this behaviour on the internet :
The nuptial flight is the mating flight of some insects, most notably social bees and ants. Winged sexuals are produced within the colony. When environmental conditions (such as temperature and humidity) are correct the winged sexuals from all of the colonies in a specific area emerge and start their nuptial flight.
During the flight females might mate with several males. Following mating the females land and, in the case of ants, chew off their own wings. The newly mated female then attempts to start a new colony by finding (or creating) a safe place to lay eggs. These eggs become the first workers in the colony.
Males don't live long after the nuptial flight.
The mass emergence of winged ants at the same time from different colonies has led to the colloquial name of Flying ant day.
Source : http://www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary/terms/nuptial-flight
The nuptial flight is seen as the first stage of the ant life cycle. The reproductive, flying alate ants i.e. princesses and drones, take to the skies to mate.
Something in the air, thought to be humidity and temperature, synchronises nation-wide flights. This allows individuals from different nests to mate.
The alates will fly away from their nest to ensure outbreeding.
Once the princesses are ready to mate, they release pheromones to attract drones. They often try to out fly the drones so that only the strongest can mate with them. Mating takes place during the flight.
Princesses usually mate with more than one drone. The sperm is stored in a ‘sperm pocket’ that should last her throughout her lifetime fertilising tens of millions of eggs.
Soon after the flight the drones die and the princess lands in preparation to find a new home.
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