My book 'Ants of New Zealand' arrived and disappointedly had no mention of nuptial flight times for any NZ species 
I managed to find the email of the author, and asked him if he had any more information, and this was his response:
"I had hoped to include more details of nuptial flights by NZ species in my book, but could only find definitive details of one, that described on p.141 of my book. Clearly, latitude and temperature are vital factors determining simultaneous flights from colonies of a particular species will commence. Observing flights is almost certainly a matter of chance. Being there at the right time.
Your best chance of starting a colony is to capture a dealate female (a potential female reproductive or queen) in early spring, or keep your eyes open as spring progresses."
Well, we are just starting to head into spring now, some bumble bees have woken up, and bumbling about so went up our local trails to see if I could find any ants.
Looking back down a trail:
I can literally see my house from here:
More dense/older style woodland:
More Trails:
I did find some ants, inside a small rotten log (about the size of my fist) with some eggs, no pupa or larva, No queen. I assume they were underground somewhere. A few scurried off underground pretty quick.
I thought it could be Pachycondyla castaneicolor, as it is about the right size (5mm). But they also feign death, which doesn't seem to be documented for them. Hypoponera eduardi looks more similar to my eye, known to feign death, but is documented to be a lot smaller (2.5-3.0mm).
Final Rainbow, on the way out from the trails.
