CLOSED: Swarming insect 1/4" long - What is it?

mygardens Croton-on-Hudson, NY(Zone 6b) Oct 11, 2008

There were literally thousand of these insects swarming in a bed of impatiens at the base of a large oak tree in our yard and many of them were climbing up the tree. They were also concentrated in areas of the lawn around the tree. It was strange because they were not spread out in the lawn, but in specific concentrated areas of lawn on one side of the tree.

The blurred photo on the left shows how concentrated the bugs were on one flower. The photo on the right was a bug that we put in a bottle until it died and then took a photo under a magnifying glass. The bug is only 1/4" long.

Hopefully someone can identify it from the photos and description.

Post #5659788

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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Oct 11, 2008

These are ants. At certain times of the year, large numbers of (usually) winged reproductives, both male and female, are produced by ant colonies. These leave the colony to find mates and then if successful, the mated females seek out sites to establish new colonies.

Post #5659825

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mygardens Croton-on-Hudson, NY(Zone 6b) Oct 12, 2008

suunto - Can't believe this was answered so quickly - 11 minutes! and since these are so common, I can't believe that we have not seen them before in this stage. mAybe we have, but never so many in such a strange pattern.

Every time I get an ID on DG I always try to verify it before closing the thread, and this confirms the ID: http://research.amnh.org/entomology/social_insects/ants/pictures/0012/006.html . Many thanks.