Red Flying Ants

[rockyracoon]

Loads of them in the garden, never seen red ones before. Anyone else being plagued by them?

[mazie]

Last Week here rocky. The Starlings cleaned them all up in about 20 minutes. Never seen red ones though.

[gingejbee]

We have small colonies of red ants (smaller than the usual black ones, tend to favour the rear lawn) but I've never seen them flying like the black ones do.

[rockyracoon]

We had loads of black ones about three weeks ago, but these are red, very odd. Don't think I've ever known to have two lots of flying ants in one summer.

[mazie]

According to this we haven't day flying ant day yet in 2016...

http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/08/when-and-what-is-flying-ant-day-swarms-of-insects-are-about-to-invade-britain-5992890/

[rockyracoon]

I hope we don't get anymore.

[DTCwordfan]

if they are fire ants, be careful, the stings are quite painful

[rockyracoon]

I have no idea DT, I found a load of them drowning in our little pool. Took ages to fish the *** out.

[DTCwordfan]

if they bite you, you get hard white nodules under the skin that itch like hell, rocky....

[rockyracoon]

Fingers crossed they're not them then.

[Old_Geezer]

Probably Putin's Russian invasion force, trying to get the bite on you.

[-SharonA-]

Red ants are dangerous. If they bite, it can be fatal.

[frugalfred]

The bite injects formic acid under the skin. The best treatment is the slightly-alkaline sodium bicarbonate in strong solution spread on the bite area.

[frugalfred]

When I was but a callow youth in the Cotswolds, after being bitten we would spit (saliva - slightly alkaline) on a dock leaf and apply it to the bite.
Very useful, dock leaves, especially if one has to do a "country one"!

[rockyracoon]

Never got bit, fortunately, and they seem to have disappeared today.

[Old_Geezer]

Recently heard that they've done tests re dock leaves, although I think wrt stinging nettle relief. Apparently turned out to be no better than a placebo !