- Jul 29, 2018
- 785
- Pool Size
- 15000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Just looking for company. Found this thread under "Just getting started." It ran from 2013 to 2018 with no clear and obvious answer. It's listed as an "Inactive thread" now with a recommendation to start a new one. This is it. Here's the original thread: Flying ants?
Coming up on our fourth summer, this seems the norm for us. After a rainstorm, usually the next day or for early morning storms, beginning within maybe 12 hours of the storm, the pool is dotted with large dead and dying winged ants. I can't say that I've seen this much in winter, so it may be a summer phenomenon. I learned a little from that old thread and a couple articles linked, although at least some seem contrary to our experience. Our prevailing winds here on the ancient Katy Prairie are out of the south. Thunderstorms seem to bring north winds followed by the ants. We had a big storm, lots of wind and rain from about 2-7am Sunday. Late Sunday afternoon, we had the usual hundreds of winged ants in the water and in the skimmer socks.
As I scooped the ants with a net and looked closely, it seemed that maybe 1 out of five or so were alive. Since ants do not sleep, I assumed the still ones were dead. Still I sprayed the inside of the net with garden insecticide before dumping them in a corner flower bed. It seems they continue falling out of the sky for some time, as I could walk around the pool, scooping as I go, and by the time I get back to where I started, there were more. I think I got them all at that time and then cleaned out the skimmer socks. This morning (Monday) there were a few more. This afternoon quite a few more (couple hundred?) I'd like to think this round is over, but the forecast is for heavy thunderstorms tomorrow-Tuesday from about 4am to 11am, so I'll expect round 2 late tomorrow.
From what I learned from the 1954 movie "Them!" a new queen and two or more consorts will have a mating flight with the queen mating with the strongest of the consorts, after which all of the consorts die, while the queen goes on to establish a new nest and will lay eggs from that one mating for up to twenty years. That would be consistent with what we find in the pool--dead or dying consorts. One neighbor speculated that heavy rains soak ant nests and trigger a survival instinct, and that is why we see this after rainstorms. My neighbor is a police officer, not a scientist, however his theory would support our observations. Other theories I've read--falling out of trees--wouldn't apply here as far as I can tell. Coming out of the ground here? Maybe. I do also see the ants on the decking, too, but they don't seem to be heading toward the pool--just still or wandering.
The earlier thread seems to suggest this is a common occurrence from the Atlantic to the Pacific, at least south of the Mason and Dixon line. Any entomologist pool owners here?
Coming up on our fourth summer, this seems the norm for us. After a rainstorm, usually the next day or for early morning storms, beginning within maybe 12 hours of the storm, the pool is dotted with large dead and dying winged ants. I can't say that I've seen this much in winter, so it may be a summer phenomenon. I learned a little from that old thread and a couple articles linked, although at least some seem contrary to our experience. Our prevailing winds here on the ancient Katy Prairie are out of the south. Thunderstorms seem to bring north winds followed by the ants. We had a big storm, lots of wind and rain from about 2-7am Sunday. Late Sunday afternoon, we had the usual hundreds of winged ants in the water and in the skimmer socks.
As I scooped the ants with a net and looked closely, it seemed that maybe 1 out of five or so were alive. Since ants do not sleep, I assumed the still ones were dead. Still I sprayed the inside of the net with garden insecticide before dumping them in a corner flower bed. It seems they continue falling out of the sky for some time, as I could walk around the pool, scooping as I go, and by the time I get back to where I started, there were more. I think I got them all at that time and then cleaned out the skimmer socks. This morning (Monday) there were a few more. This afternoon quite a few more (couple hundred?) I'd like to think this round is over, but the forecast is for heavy thunderstorms tomorrow-Tuesday from about 4am to 11am, so I'll expect round 2 late tomorrow.
From what I learned from the 1954 movie "Them!" a new queen and two or more consorts will have a mating flight with the queen mating with the strongest of the consorts, after which all of the consorts die, while the queen goes on to establish a new nest and will lay eggs from that one mating for up to twenty years. That would be consistent with what we find in the pool--dead or dying consorts. One neighbor speculated that heavy rains soak ant nests and trigger a survival instinct, and that is why we see this after rainstorms. My neighbor is a police officer, not a scientist, however his theory would support our observations. Other theories I've read--falling out of trees--wouldn't apply here as far as I can tell. Coming out of the ground here? Maybe. I do also see the ants on the decking, too, but they don't seem to be heading toward the pool--just still or wandering.
The earlier thread seems to suggest this is a common occurrence from the Atlantic to the Pacific, at least south of the Mason and Dixon line. Any entomologist pool owners here?
