It's Official

Ants invaded the kitchen today for the first time since the days got cold and then freezing.  I'm sure they know more than us, being creatures close to Mother Nature.  Days are longer, temperatures are warmer. It is officially Spring.

They were in a long black line scuttling  up and down the kitchen wall, congregating around the back of the rubbish bin.  Must have been something sticky there, or a fish bone maybe.  I guiltily sucked them up with the vaccum cleaner.  I really don't like being nasty to insects but this was a home invasion.  I swabbed the spot with a wet tissue and they've disappeared, for now.

I remember distinctly though that last year they arrived a lot later.  The ants appeared on the same day I heard the first cicada chorus which probably would have been around late May.

So what does that say about the summer of 2017?  Last summer was apparently extremely dry.  They're much earlier this summer.  So will it be extremely wet?

These are medium size black ants.  One year our first invasion was from giant ants and after a month these mysteriously disappeared to be replaced by tiny black ants like scuttling tea leaves.  I've seen a few of those on the bench in the last couple of days as well.

Father time will reveal all of Mother Nature's mysteries.

All about greek ants.................

Ants in greek are myrmegia and little ants are myrmegaikia. 

The study of ants is myrmecology.

In greek mythology the Myrmidons were created by Zeus from a colony of ants to repopulate the island of Aegina.