LARGE flying ants are swarming in the cities and countryside of Ireland striking fear into the squeamish.
Tens of thousands of the creatures have been spotted by alarmed city dwellers around the streets of Dublin and elsewhere over the past two days. While the invasion of the flying ants is annual, it rarely happens on the scale of this year's event.
"The weather is particularly good for them at the moment," according to one zoologist. "They're perfectly harmless it's great to see them around."
This view is not shared by many who have been taken by surprise by the large numbers of these insects flying about in the past two days. Dublin shoppers in particular have been alarmed at the ants swarming around city streets and landing on them. Householders in the south city report discovering dozens of them in their houses.
The flying ants are all females leaving the nests in which they were hatched. Up to 10,000 may come out of any one nest when the weather gets warm and dry. Each will fly about for a day or possibly two, seeking a crack or crevice under a rock or paving stone into which they will crawl to begin a new nest. Next year, the cycle will continue as the females leave these new nests.
"It happens every year," according to Mr Barry Dawson, the chief technician at the zoology department of University College, Galway. "The dry weather and the warmth in the past few days may have brought out more than usual." While Dubliners may be surprised by the phenomenon, people in the countryside are well used to it, he says.
They don't all leave their nests at the same time, according to Mr Dawson, so entomophobes (those who fear insects) must remain vigilant over the next few weeks for fear that airborne bugs will land on them. Eyewitnesses of which there are many report that these flying ants land on bone's person and then just sit there, leaving them an easy swat for humans with even the slowest reflexes.
According to Mr Dawson, they are harmless and innocuous. "They might bite to defend themselves, but they would cause discomfort rather than pain. If you squat on a nest for long enough you might get a few nips.
While this period may be unpleasant for humans, it's not all sun and happy days for the flying ants either. "It's a dicey time to be a flying ant," says Mr Dawson. Birds and fish eat them and humans walk on them. A very small proportion survives to lay its eggs.