Formicidae | Aylestone 8

FAMILY FORMICIDAE

Carebara vidua

I had shoulder surgery last week, but my legs can still walk. So… my walk was well planned to minimize any risk, just on the farm road, with a walking stick and my route communicated to my husband should I take too long. He laced up my shoes and off went the dogs and I.

We had good rain the last two days, not the first for the season, but the first good soaking rain. The soil is thoroughly wet, and everything is lush and green.

Not even around the first corner, I saw the biggest flying ants I have ever seen. We often see termites after good rains, but never in more than twenty years I have seen this. This was completely different, and I immediately phoned my husband to come and see it.

There were a few holes, and they just came out in abundance. Each hole had thousands and thousands of tiny worker ants crawling all over.

The workers are about 2 mm in length, males 18 mm and females 25 mm.

According to Andrew Schild on the Facebook group ‘Insects only – Southern Africa’, this is a queen alate, ready for her nuptial flight. A few of the light workers might be carried with the queen, but has apparently not been scientifically approved.

A “queen alate ant” refers to a young, winged, virgin female ant that is preparing to mate and start a new colony. An alate is the general term for any winged ant, male or female, that participates in a mating flight. The queen is a reproductive female ant, and the alate stage is her winged, reproductive youth. After mating, the queen ant will shed her wings to become a dealate queen, establishing a new colony.

Click on this link to see a video of the African Thief Ants.

Less than an hour later, all had flown off. A new generation has been set up with the best chances of survival.

Once home, I immediately started researching this beautiful insect.

Biggest surprise… the females are edible, have medicinal value, and are apparently a delicacy. It can be eaten raw, but mostly, they are fried. In some African countries, they are considered endangered because people who know where a nest is, will wait for the ants to emerge and eat every single one that crawls out.