If you check Twitter's highest trending topics in the UK right now, the fourth highest on the list -- behind Jason Stackhouse, Joey Cole and the concerning "Scrotal implosion" -- is flying ants. Approximately once a year, known as Flying Ant Day, the species of ant that's usually found in Britain's homes and gardens (Lasius Niger) takes to the skies for an elaborate mating ritual to ensure the survival of the colony.
The queen ants grow wings, as do the males, and they swarm in their millions for about 10 hours, before the queens land again and lose their wings, and find somewhere to hibernate for the winter. Only a few queens are successful, however, and those that aren't will be killed when they try and join an already-existing colony. Once a queen has mated, she's fertile for the rest of her life.
A certain type of weather is required for the event to occur. It needs to be hot, but also moist -- muggy, like the weather before a thunderstorm. Winds speed is crucial too -- it needs to be windy enough to spread the insects out a bit, ensuring the genetic diversity of the colony, but not enough to damage the creatures' fragile wings. Once the necessary conditions are met, all the colonies in a local area take flight at once to reduce to risk of predation and, again, ensure genetic diversity.
The insects are harmless, beyond the occasional bite, and Dave Clark, the head keeper at London Zoo's entomology division, told the BBC last year that the ants bring benefits too -- they pollinate flowers and feed on other insects which cause damage to plants. Following the swarming, any dead ants are eaten up quickly by birds.
Response so far on Twitter has been split between disgust and excitement. "WHERE HAVE ALL THESE FLYING ANTS COME FROM?" yells Kayleighmartin. "It's weird enough without them all doing it at the same time," adds LondonMUgirl.
All I can think is that I wish I'd shut my windows this morning.