The first rains after summer fell two days ago, here where I live near Lisbon, in Portugal, Europe.
I've been wondering around hunting for queens seeing what might appear. I've no general idea of what species mate now.
Yesterday I had a night walk and found nothing.
Messors still do night excursions and I've found a Carpenter ants nest on an Eucalyptus tree with still some of them outside working at night (boy they are huge and beautiful, me'd like some!).
Today I took a walk at sun down and found no direct sign of queens, but when I pulled out a rock I've found a nest with some alates immediately shining their wings under my flashlight. They're getting ready!!! 
I didn't disturb them for long neither captured none, but I've noticed their species were small and the alates were just a few millimeters long. No idea about their species.
I know THAT colony (and I assume local colonies (plural) of that species) will be ready soon. How soon? 
I don't know much about the alates in general. How long do they take to develop, or if they fly as soon as they're born and the weather is right, and so on.
What are the signs of a nuptial flight about to be?
What are the signs of a recent nuptial flight? A mass of dead alate males here and there?
After mating, the queens wonder around for long (and how long?) or do they hide under a rock and try to find the perfect spot for nesting their chamber, looking around for days?
What's the difference between a fresh new queen's chamber and one that has already some time?
(I've dug one that appeared to be new and after a while I saw some nanitics, meaning they're already there for a couple of months).
I agree the perfect catch of a queen is when she shows up walking in front of you like a Hello!
When I caught my Formica fusca queens, some of them were under rocks, one was "walking down the street" and a couple of them were starting to dig their holes still being able to watch their gasters outside (here in Portugal we say that's how Germany lost the war!) 
Should I dig suspicious holes or just catch them outside?
Any info about this subject?
Some ebooks for the share, YouTube videos, articles, etc., please? Thanks guys!
