Survey led by University of Gloucestershire discovers there is no single day for swarming nuisance

By Eddie Wrenn

PUBLISHED: 04:36 EST, 20 August 2012 | UPDATED: 05:22 EST, 20 August 2012

One of the first major studies of 'Flying Ant Day' has revealed that the nuisance outbreaks can occur anytime in the space of a month.

The Society of Biology asked members of the public to cover their mouths and keep a record each time they saw the pesky insects take to the air in their annual battle to find a mate.

Adam Hart, an ecologist and insect expert at the University of Gloucestershire, led the call to arms, and discovered that the outbreaks could come anytime over the period of a month.

It was previously assumed the ants synchronised their swarms to increase their reproductive chances, but instead of the 'Friday night' approach, is appears there is a more complex pattern at play.

Swarming: The most common flying ants seen at the moment is the black garden ant, Lasius niger

More than 4,000 people responded to the survey across June and July, and their sightings reveal that even within a small town can have outbreaks on different days.

Hart told The Scientist: 'Its really too early to tell but even a casual glance at the data so far shows that flying ant emergence is a spatially and temporally complex event.

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Forget Flying Ant Day ... it's actually a month! 4,000 people join 'citizen survey' to pin-point outbreaks across the UK