Ants Formicidae

You might be surprised that ants belong to this group of flying insects. Several times a year though the ants do actually fly. The animals that take off are males and young queens. After impregnation which takes place hight up in the air the males die and the queens try to find a place to start a new colony. The ants you normally see, hurrying from who-knows-where to who-wants-to-know-where are workers. These never get wings. All ants live in big colonies. These are usually constructed underground, but some ants build high houses above the ground. We refer to those as being 'ant hills'.