The photos above were taken during early spring, when sugar ants produce winged queens and males. The queens and males leave the nest on a mass mating flight. After mating, the male dies and the now fertile queen sets off to find a suitable location to found a colony.

Interestingly, the sugar ant is not only the first species to swarm they are also one of the few species that are active during the winter. Whenever the temperature is above freezing these industrious creatures are on the move. Most other species hibernate from late fall until the early spring months.

The colony that was the subject of these photos was located right outside my door step. I used an Olympus c4000z digital camera fitted with close up lenses.