13 replies to this topic

[AntsMaryland]

What time of day does Camponotus Fly?

[Jadeninja9]

Usually through and from the afternoon to night

[YsTheAnt]

Best time to find them is at night.

[noebl1]

I find they tend to fly in batches for several weeks, however often have one *huge* regional flight that if in rural areas, pretty hard to miss.  As others have mentioned, they start flying in the late afternoon/evening, and well after dark.  They are pretty easy to catch with flashlights after dark as they are looking for places to found.  I've found the vast majority of my flights start an hour or so before sunset.  I live in the woods, so have been observing these for years long before I was into ant keeping.

 

They like to fly when it's warm/humid, often immediately after rain (like a thunderstorm), or even up to a couple days after I've observed.  A couple years ago when the conditions were right, in the Ants Canada forum I was seeing people reporting flights over the entire north eastern US on the same night.  Some of these flights have been large enough I've seen hundreds of queens at a time (like plague proportions) at my house.

Edited by noebl1, February 13 2018 - 4:35 AM.

[AntsMaryland]

I find they tend to fly in batches for several weeks, however often have one *huge* regional flight that if in rural areas, pretty hard to miss.  As others have mentioned, they start flying in the late afternoon/evening, and well after dark.  They are pretty easy to catch with flashlights after dark as they are looking for places to found.  I've found the vast majority of my flights start an hour or so before sunset.  I live in the woods, so have been observing these for years long before I was into ant keeping.

 

They like to fly when it's warm/humid, often immediately after rain (like a thunderstorm), or even up to a couple days after I've observed.  A couple years ago when the conditions were right, in the Ants Canada forum I was seeing people reporting flights over the entire north eastern US on the same night.  Some of these flights have been large enough I've seen hundreds of queens at a time (like plague proportions) at my house.

Wow. Thanks. That information is very much appreciated!

[noebl1]

 

 

Wow. Thanks. That information is very much appreciated!

 

Anytime   The flights also are affected by conditions.  2016 flights were HUGE, but 2017 were much smaller due to the 2016 drought.  It was observed where we are in the Fall of 2016 there were quite a few Camponotus alate/dealated ejections, again believed to be caused by the drought.

[Jadeninja9]

 

 

 

Wow. Thanks. That information is very much appreciated!

 

Anytime   The flights also are affected by conditions.  2016 flights were HUGE, but 2017 were much smaller due to the 2016 drought.  It was observed where we are in the Fall of 2016 there were quite a few Camponotus alate/dealated ejections, again believed to be caused by the drought.

 

Haha imagine a huge Camponotus flight with a blacklight.

[YsTheAnt]

Some other members here say that they fly early morning, but can be found at night (with the exeption of a few) looking for a nesting site.

[sericultivist]

I've always seen them after dark, from temperate areas to the Amazon Rainforest. The exception was C. modoc in the mountains, which I caught in the afternoon as temperatures heated up.

[LC3]

The only two species of Camponotus we have abundant here fly during the day. C. modoc and C. novaeboracensis flies during mid day here, C. herculeanus up north in Alberta and Sask also fly during the day from the looks of it. I'm not sure about other Canadian Camponotus species.

[AntsMaryland]

I'm looking for C. Pennsylvanicus (I probably butchered the spelling ) in particular. Anyone know what time they fly specifically?

[noebl1]

I'm looking for C. Pennsylvanicus (I probably butchered the spelling ) in particular. Anyone know what time they fly specifically?

 

For me in MA, later afternoon until well after dark for the larger flights. Early afternoon flights sometimes happen, but tend to be not as large I've noticed.  It'll be pitch black, and the C. pennsylvanicus alates are still flying (hard to miss the buzzing), and dealates running around.  On their really large flights, I've gone inside around 11pm and still had flying and wandering around.  Sidewalks, driveways, sides of buildings, are easy places to spot them.  Though with their large size, in the grass it's not impossible, just harder

Edited by noebl1, February 15 2018 - 5:08 AM.

[AntsMaryland]

Thanks!

[Will230145]

I found my queen crawling on my hose outside around noon.

Edited by Will230145, February 15 2018 - 6:39 PM.