Over the next few days, parts of Ireland are likely to see swarms of flying ants descend as the insects travel to breed and establish new colonies.
The decent spell of weather that Ireland is currently experiencing is more conducive to this phenomenon and speaking with RTE, Collie Ennis, Research Associate in Trinity College Zoology & Science Office Herpalogical, talked about these flying ants.
Mr Ennis said: "What they are, they're the future generation of Queen ants and their potential partners - their husbands, for want of a better word.
"What's happening at this time of year is the ant nest are preparing now and the Queens are all lined up like planes in an aircraft carrier alongside the worker ants - the ones we're used to seeing just on the pavement - they're clearing debris from the entrance of the nest making the holes a little bit bigger.
"These future Queens that have produced the whole hive are setting off on their flight, this is called a nuptial flight. It happens every year, all throughout the UK and Ireland and that's when you sometimes get mass plumes of these ants shooting up into the atmosphere, which gets picked up on The Met Eireann radar, which is very funny to see."
Given the emphasis on outdoor dining in Ireland, this increase in ant activity is likely to be irritating but they don't bite or sting.
Mr Ennis said that these migratory practices are common for this time of year but the upcoming spell of good weather might make these flying ants more prominent.
He added: "There's a common misconception that people think it's 'flying ants day,' like the ants have a set time schedule where they just all decide to take off. It's actually a season and it's usually from around June to August. It's very weather dependent. I'd say in Dublin, you're probably going to see them in a day or two. You kind of need warm but very humid air.
"You could also get hose weather conditions right down the south coast of Ireland and you get them all taking off at the same time, that's where you get the massive swarms, or you might just get a localised event - that happens even in a small neighbourhood where they'll all take off from that particular spot, it's very weather dependent. "
In terms of size, the males have been described as "very, very minuscule" while the Queen ants are a bit bigger and resemble flies or wasps in size.
As for the ecological process, once the Queen mates with the males, the males will die. The Queen then lands somewhere else, removes their wings and then wanders off looking for a nest to lat her eggs.
These eggs then hatch, a new colony is formed and the process repeats itself.
Ennis says that because the chances of survival are so slim, that's why swarms of these flying ants are so visible because the insects look for strength in numbers.
"It's very rare that it happens for one of them to make it. That's why there are such big numbers because they have to play the numbers game. They have to produce and millions of these queens have to leave nests from all over the area to overwhelm the predators like seagulls, swallows and frogs, it's a numbers game," he said.
