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They were in a long black line scuttling up and down the kitchen wall, congregating around the back of the rubbish bin. Must have been something sticky there, or a fish bone maybe. I guiltily sucked them up with the vaccum cleaner. I really don't like being nasty to insects but this was a home invasion. I swabbed the spot with a wet tissue and they've disappeared, for now.
I remember distinctly though that last year they arrived a lot later. The ants appeared on the same day I heard the first cicada chorus which probably would have been around late May.
So what does that say about the summer of 2017? Last summer was apparently extremely dry. They're much earlier this summer. So will it be extremely wet?
These are medium size black ants. One year our first invasion was from giant ants and after a month these mysteriously disappeared to be replaced by tiny black ants like scuttling tea leaves. I've seen a few of those on the bench in the last couple of days as well.
Father time will reveal all of Mother Nature's mysteries.
All about greek ants.................
Ants in greek are myrmegia and little ants are myrmegaikia.
The study of ants is myrmecology.
In greek mythology the Myrmidons were created by Zeus from a colony of ants to repopulate the island of Aegina.
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Yup. Always said when the ants come in it means rain
ReplyDeleteAlthough our days are getting shorter, sunrise is later, it's not really feeling like autumn yet.
So I'm waiting
Hey, you're dead right! It started raining last night.
DeleteI haven't seen any Ants as yet, but as soon as the sun shines our lizards come out to warm themselves.
ReplyDeleteWe dont really see lizards till mid summer...or so I thought. Must keep an eye out.
DeleteNo ants here, so far.
ReplyDeleteEach spring we have a small army of black beetles which march, in the dead of night, through our bedroom and along to the main bathroom where they disappear under the skirting boards. Our house used to be a stable/cow shed so I imagine this behaviour probably goes back for most of the 170 years it has been standing. We have blocked up every tiny access point we can find but still they march through, though the numbers have now diminished.
I feel sorry for them, they are not interested in finding lodgings, they are simply passing through on their way to somewhere else, thank goodness. I'd love to put up a 'diversion' sign to reroute them!
I think I prefer ants to black beetles. But as you say they are just following their instincts...dream lines!
DeleteOne of my chores is to remove any dead rats, birds or mice from around the farm house that our cat captured and killed the night before. No ants but we did have a bat visitor once flying round the front room and I was ordered to: "get it out of here."
ReplyDeleteDead are ok' especially if they are a 'gift' from your cat lol. My daughter gets bats every summer in her fireplace. They fly down the chimney and cant get out out. Bats bones are good luck here
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