A PEST control expert has told how Brits can stop their homes from being invaded by flying ants.
Stuart Halliday, 42, owner of Kill and Cure Pest Control, has warned that people need to watch out for the tell tale signs that their home has been infected.
Flying Ant Day usually occurs when a spell of wet weather is followed by hot humid weather.
Although referred to as a day, the mating ritual can last for several weeks in high summer.
By the end, billions of ants will have taken to the skies.
Last year Flying Ant Day took place in most parts of the country on July 12.
Now Stuart has explained that he believes ant season is already well underway in the UK.
He told The Sun: “July and August is when you get your flying ants.
"They come out at this time because they are breeding adult. The flying ones are the queens and little flying ones are the males.
“Once the males have mated with the queens they die and once the queens are impregnated they chew off their wings.
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“When you see great big ants walking around on the ground that is the queens and from then on they will start making the next nest for next year.
“They usually appear around strange weather conditions. Really hot, thunder, high pressure – very much like the weather we are now having.”
He has now shared the three things Brits should do to protect their properties from the sneaky bugs.
ACT NOW
Stuart has cautioned that once ants find a spot they like, they will come back every year.
He explained: “They like to nest in sandy earth so the perfect place for them is if you have a rock paving driveway because that is based on sand.
“They love to dig out under your drives. They love it.
“Soon your drive could start to sink – or they’ll start going through the mortar of your property to find warmth.
“Once they find a home they’ll come back every year so it's very important you do something about it.
ANT POWDER
Stuart has told of the best way to get rid of the critters – ant powder.
He said: “They make their nests under cement slabs, rock and paver stones. Cone-shaped piles of dirt in cracks and joints mark hive entrances.”
“If you see this happening, what you need to do immediately is get some ant powder in that hole.
What are flying ants?
The most common type of flying ant is the black garden variety (the Lasius niger), whose nests have a single queen and anything from 5,000 to 15,000 workers.
Workers are the ants you see during most of the year, collecting food.
While workers, who are all female, live for around a month, queens can live for over 10 years.
They spend most of their lives in their nest – only leaving for the "nuptial flight" as immature queens to mate and ultimately found their own colony.
After mating, the queens lose their wings – and those pesky larger ants you see walking around alone are in fact new queens hunting for somewhere to set up their nest.
Flying ants are mostly harmless to humans, but they do have a strange effect on seagulls who can appear drunk after eating a few due to formic acid they expel.
“You need to get it done before they dispatch the new queens. If you leave it, every queen is going to be another nest next year.
“When you see them coming up and you see this little pile of sand – get ant powder in that hole straight away and you’ll be saving yourself a lot of trouble.
“You want to squirt it in there and keep putting it in until they stop.”
NO MOULD
Stuart says ants will enter your home if there is rotten wood inside – so to prevent the insects you should make sure your home is nice and dry.
He said: “You can also get them in your house if you have any rotten substances so lets say rotten floorboards from a leak or old rotten door frames from a leak – they can chew into that wood.
“I’m already being called out to homes to deal with this – Flying Ant season has well and truely started.
“All you can do is try and prevent it.
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"When you see them coming up and you see this little pile of sand – get ant powder in that hole straight away and you’ll be saving yourself a lot of trouble.
"You want to squirt it in there and keep putting it in until they stop."
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