Winging our way, flying ant epidemic
BRITAIN is facing a flying ant and greenfly epidemic – with the pests set to swarm across the UK in record numbers.
The surge comes after unusually warm weather in April and May this year.
Pest controllers at Rentokil said they had taken 148 per cent more callouts dealing with ant infestations in the past two months than during the same period last year.
The mercury hit 29C last month – on the hottest April day recorded since 1949 – while May has also been unusually warm, and these soaring temperatures have enabled ants to thrive.
A spokesman for Rentokil said: ‘There has been a significant increase in ant activity across the UK.
‘Experts believe the rise could be attributed to the unseasonably warm start to the spring … as ants are typically more active in higher temperatures, and colonies use sunlight to navigate.’
David Cross, head of the pest controller’s technical training academy, said: ‘Last month we saw reported ant infestations rise to levels we wouldn’t usually expect until June or July.
‘While the Beast from the East may have caused them to remain dormant in March, the sudden change in temperature has since brought them out in their droves.
‘This trend could be set to continue throughout the rest of the summer.’ He added: ‘If temperatures remain high, we also expect this to really be a bumper year for flying ants.’
He said this was likely to manifest itself around ‘flying ant day’ – a period of around two weeks, normally in July, when winged ants search for mates in order to start new colonies. The phenomenon is expected to arrive earlier this year, emerging in June.
Greenfly have also increased as a result of weather. They, and other aphids, are a key food source for ants, which feed on their sugary secretions, known as honeydew. While considered a pest by humans, greenfly are protected from predators by some ants, who ‘farm’ the bugs in order to harvest the honeydew.
Cold weather earlier in the year is thought to have killed many of the predators that eat greenfly, such as lacewing, further boosting their numbers.
Duncan Mclean, of Wyevale garden centres, said: ‘The cold snap earlier this year will have reduced resident populations of pests and predators alike.
‘The pest population reproduces at a much faster rate than the natural predators, so the balance will tip in the favour of the pest, and is likely to cause an aphid outbreak.’