Summer under cloud from swarms of flying ants

As summer arrives at last and temperatures soar, many towns and cities are finding there is a price to pay — in the form of flying ants.

In a mass breeding ritual, huge swarms are descending on built-up areas forcing families to run for cover.

Red ants can give an unpleasant bite, while the common black garden variety merely gets in the hair, the eyes, the mouth, under the clothes — and up the nose.

Earlier this month shoppers fled after the city centre of Gloucester spent two hours under siege from a seething mass of the creatures.

The council in Peterborough has already received around 300 calls about flying ants this summer — 100 more than in the same period last year despite the record temperatures then.

Resident Helen Wright, 33, said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. It was horrible; like something out of a horror movie. They were huge and seemed to be everywhere you looked, crawling all over the pavement and the grass. I’ve had six big nests in my garden and one in my hallway. There’s even a nest in the kids’ play park. I saw the children swatting them off.’

St Helens Council in Merseyside said it had been ‘inundated’ with
complaints about flying ants.

Experts say our warmer, longer summers have helped the ant population thrive. Increasing numbers of houses have suffered infestations — and central heating means that once they have arrived, they are harder than ever to banish.

Henry Arnold, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, said: ‘There could be an awful lot of colonies still to mate over the coming weeks.’

Tony Stephens, of Rentokil, said it is now commonplace to find ant nests under floorboards or in cavity walls. Although they rarely cause any real damage, they will immediately swarm on any sweet food that is left out.

The best way to deal with an outdoor infestation is said to be pouring boiling water on the nest. Talcum powder can be used to block their path into a house.

If they have already made it inside, all sweet foods should be
stored in airtight containers and any trails of ants mopped up with a soapy cloth.

Chemical sprays can be bought from garden centres and hardware shops but if the problem persists, professional help should be sought.