Greater Boston residents have taken to social media in recent days to flag swarms of winged ants seen fluttering and festering in the region, and Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife spokesperson Emily Stolarski said Tuesday the agency was “working on gathering more information” about the insects. One person who offered up information Monday was meteorologist Dave Epstein, who writes for the Globe and posted a video clip to X, formerly Twitter, of winged ants “swarming” around rocks near a chain-link fence. “Check out the ants swarming this afternoon,” Epstein wrote above the crawly clip.
“The ones with wings are likely sexually mature and going off to mate and start new colonies. Heat and humidity often kick them off so it stands to reason why I’m seeing them today. The winged ants are called alates.
” Advertisement Check out the ants swarming this afternoon. The ones with wings are likely sexually mature and going off to mate and start new colonies. Heat and humidity often kick them off so it stands to reason why I'm seeing them today.
The winged ants are called alates. #growingwisdom pic.twitter.
com/TaR57WhOLy Cambridge residents called out the ants on Monday night too. “My wife and I went for a walk this evening in Cambridge and were inundated with them,” wrote someone dubbed Mr. Eyeball on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday evening.
“Where are they coming from?” My wife and I went for a walk this evening in Cambridge and were inundated with them. Where are they coming from? Miles Howard, a Globe correspondent who writes for the paper’s Ideas section, also posted about the winged creatures Monday night. Howard wrote on X that he observed a “literal storm front of WINGED ANTS descending upon Boston.
” Me: “I think I’ll enjoy this beautiful evening by taking a walk in Boston.” Literal storm front of WINGED ANTS descending upon Boston: “Hold our beer.” Meanwhile Universal Hub reported Monday night that private Facebook groups in Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and Hyde Park,cq West Roxbury, Dedham, Cambridge, and Somerville were “full of accounts of people and vehicles getting stuck in a mating frenzy of zillions of tiny flying ants.
” One person in Jamaica Plain took to Reddit to report what they described as a three-block radius “swarming with small flying ants; people’s cars are covered in them, people being chased back into their homes because you can’t walk around without them going into your mouth and nose.” Wicked gross. “They’re in Dedham, Westwood, and Norwood too,” someone else replied to the Reddit poster.
“At least they’re harmless but I’m still freaked out when trying to walk through them. Hopefully gone in a day or two.” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s press office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Advertisement “Curb alert!” one guy wrote Monday night in a JP Facebook group above a stomach churning photo of winged ants crawling on the concrete. “Swarm of flying ants, near monument, not monitoring.” Flying ants previously made news across the pond in 2017 when hundreds of them swarmed various courts at Wimbledon , distracting the elite tennis players and at times compelling them to use their rackets to swat bugs instead of shiny green balls.
“They were everywhere,” said American tennis pro Steve Johnson at the time. ‘’It was a mess out there. I’ve never seen that here before.
’’ Flying ants are “the reproductive form of the ant species and come out in the spring and summer months, when the warmer temperatures allow for reproduction,” says the website of F&W Pest Control , an extermination service with offices in Wrentham and Framingham. “Swarmers are typically short-lived and are only around for about a day or two before they die.” The site says flying ants are attracted to moisture so they’re often spotted in and around pools during the warmer months.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. This breaking news story will be updated when more information is released. Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.
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