Lavender – the smell of summer and a number one destination for all manner of flying things.
It was 37.5°C in my front garden yesterday and the air was alive with flying things. First their was a flock of seagulls circling just above the rooftops. Then the whole air was full of small flies, micro-moths and the occasional butterfly. My guess is that the larger flying things were after the smaller flying things.
Meanwhile, in the small (very small) herb garden, bees and hoverflies, energised by the heat were darting frenetically from flower to flower.
There was a 2 minute Q. and A on Radio 4’s news today at 8.58. Q. Why were players at Wimbledon reporting large swarms of ants flying yesterday; in such quantities some players were swallowing them. ? A. The flying conditions were perfect for flying ants yesterday, right temperature, right humidity. All ants in a colony come from the same queen and the same male. In order to ensure their survival by speading the gene pool as many ants as possible fly on the same day, mate and produce. It all happens in the space of a few days, nationwide. I didn’t know that
You learn something new every day! 🙂
I love to try and spot the Bee-fly (Bombylius major) that flies like a hummingbird.