Giant black clouds of winged insects are taking flight across the UK

Huge swarms of flying ants have been spotted across the UK as “Flying Ants Day” has arrived. Despite its name, it can actually happen over a number of summer days, with giant black clouds of winged insects taking flight across the UK amid the warmer weather.

The swarms are often so huge they appear on the weather radar, similar to how rainfall looks. The Flying Ant Day phenomenon refers to a specific time in the summer months when flying ants finally take the skies in search of a mate.

According to the Royal Society of Biology, there is not always one flying ant day, with around 96% of days between June and September bringing sightings of the flying ants in their swarms. When weather conditions are favourable for flying ants, they might continuously take to the skies for weeks on end.

According to the National History Museum, the winged insects are “almost always the sexually mature queens and males of the black garden ant” and the bigger ones are the queens. The creatures can be up to 15mm long.

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Flying ants are not harmful and it is best to simply leave them be. They should disappear within a few hours when they fly off somewhere else.

Giant swarms have been spotted across Merseyside and beyond in recent days.