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Biology
The swarming flight of
the newly emerged males and females is a common sight on a hot
sunny afternoon in July or August.
This
flight is their mating flight and within a few days the male dies
off. The female bites off her wings and either returns to the
original colony or she finds a suitable location by digging a
tunnel under a stone where she will remain until the following
spring before she commences to lay eggs.
These eggs will start
the new nest, they hatch in about 28 days, during this time the
new young queen rests. When the larvae hatch she feeds them. This
stage lasts about 23 days until new workers hatch, these new workers
then start to nurse the new larvae, search for food and tend to
the queen.
The workers lay scent
trails as they move to guide other workers to food, this is why
you often see them "marching" in such an organized way, this process
carries on until the next mating flight and everything starts
again.
DISEASE
These insects are not
known to be direct carriers of any disease, but they can cause
cross contamination by walking over infected areas.
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