Some ants develop wings during certain stages of their life cycle, particularly during the reproductive phase. These winged ants, often referred to as alates, are typically males and future queens. Their wings allow them to leave the nest and participate in mating flights, which help establish new colonies and maintain genetic diversity within populations.
The wings are temporary and usually shed shortly after mating. Once a female mates, she will land, remove her wings, and start a new colony as the queen. Male winged ants, after mating, generally die soon afterward, having completed their primary role in reproduction. This cycle ensures that colonies continue to grow and spread across different areas.
Winged ants often emerge in large numbers during specific times of the year, usually in warm and humid conditions. These synchronized flights, known as nuptial flights, are a spectacular natural phenomenon. During these events, thousands of winged ants may be seen taking to the air at once, increasing the likelihood of successful mating while reducing the risk of predation on any single individual.
The wings themselves are delicate and functional. They allow the ants to travel long distances compared to their wingless counterparts, enabling colonization of new territories. After landing, the loss of wings makes the ants more suited for life on the ground, focusing on colony-building, brood care, or defense.
Ants that Have Wings – (Identification)
Black Carpenter Ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus)
One of the largest winged ants in North America, the Black Carpenter Ant produces alate queens that can reach 18–20 mm in length with broad, smoky-black wings spanning nearly 30 mm. Native to eastern North America, these ants nest in moist or decaying wood — in forests, tree stumps, and regrettably in the structural timbers of homes. Winged swarms typically emerge on warm, humid evenings in late spring to early summer, often alarming homeowners who mistake them for termites.
Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta)
Originally from South America’s Pantanal region, the Red Imported Fire Ant has become one of the most invasive and economically damaging ant species in the world, now established across the southeastern United States, Australia, and parts of Asia. Winged queens and males emerge from large, dome-shaped mounds in warm, sunny conditions, typically in spring and after rain events. The alate queens are reddish-brown, 8–10 mm long, and capable of flying several miles before landing to found a new colony that can ultimately number in the hundreds of thousands.
Black Garden Ant (Lasius niger)
The Black Garden Ant is responsible for “Flying Ant Day” — the famous synchronized swarming event that captivates and occasionally terrorizes the British public each summer. Native across Europe and temperate Asia, this common garden ant produces enormous swarms of winged males and queens on hot, humid days following a period of rain, typically in July or August. Winged queens are noticeably larger than males at 8–9 mm, and after mating, they shed their wings, excavate a small chamber, and raise their first workers entirely alone without feeding.
Pavement Ant (Tetramorium immigrans)
Believed to have migrated from Europe in the 1800s, the Pavement Ant is now ubiquitous in urban and suburban settings, nesting under sidewalks, driveways, building foundations, and patio slabs. Its winged alates emerge in late spring to early summer, often surfacing through cracks in pavement in surprising numbers. The swarm is usually brief and localized, with winged males and queens approximately 4–5 mm long — slightly larger than the workers but still quite small. Despite being a nuisance ant, it rarely causes structural damage and plays a minor role in urban decomposition.
Argentine Ant (Linepithema humile)
The Argentine Ant is one of the world’s most successful invasive species, having spread from its native northern Argentina to six continents via global trade routes. Unusually among ants, its winged queens do not undertake a traditional nuptial flight — instead, mating occurs within or near the nest, and new queens disperse by walking, which contributes to the species’ formation of vast interconnected “supercolonies” stretching hundreds of miles. Wings are present in alates but the flight behavior is greatly reduced, making this species an exception to the typical winged ant swarming pattern.
Leafcutter Ant (Atta cephalotes)
Among the most iconic ants of the Neotropical rainforest, Leafcutter Ants produce some of the most spectacular nuptial flights observed in the insect world. Winged queens, called “princesses,” are enormous — up to 22 mm — and carry a personal cargo of fungal spores in their infrabuccal pocket to seed the fungus garden of their future colony. Nuptial flights are triggered by the first heavy rains of the wet season and can involve thousands of alates from a single massive colony, which itself may house up to 8 million workers and cover an underground area of tens of square meters.
Odorous House Ant (Tapinoma sessile)
Named for the distinctive rotten-coconut odor released when a worker is crushed, the Odorous House Ant is one of the most common household pest ants across North America. Its winged alates are small — queens around 3–4 mm — and swarms can occur both outdoors in spring and, disconcertingly, indoors during winter months when colonies have moved inside structures to overwinter. The species forms polydomous colonies with multiple queens and satellite nesting sites that can be spread across an entire building, making elimination difficult and infestations persistent.
Red Harvester Ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus)
The Red Harvester Ant of the arid American Southwest is well known as the preferred food source of the Texas Horned Lizard and the subject of decades of behavioral research by myrmecologist Deborah Gordon. Its nuptial flights are highly synchronized spectacles that occur on specific days in late summer following monsoon rains, with alates from multiple colonies aggregating at traditional mating sites called “leks.” Winged queens are large, brick-red, and powerfully built, capable of surviving months without food while raising their first brood entirely from stored body fat and wing muscle tissue.
Acrobat Ant (Crematogaster scutellaris)
Acrobat Ants earn their common name from the habit of raising their heart-shaped abdomen above their heads when disturbed — a behavior that remains unmistakable even in winged alates. Widely distributed across Europe, North Africa, and parts of the Middle East, this species nests in dead or moisture-damaged wood, and its winged reproductives swarm in late summer on hot, still afternoons. The winged queens are recognizable by their distinctively pointed, heart-shaped gasters and their reddish-brown coloration. In North America, related Crematogaster species are common in both forest and suburban settings.
Pharaoh Ant (Monomorium pharaonis)
Believed to have originated in Africa or Asia, the Pharaoh Ant is now a notorious cosmopolitan pest found in heated buildings across the globe, including hospitals, hotels, and apartment complexes where its tiny size — queens are only 3.5–6 mm — allows it to penetrate almost any space. Unusually, Pharaoh Ants rarely swarm outdoors; nuptial flights almost never occur, as new queens mate within the nest and colonies spread by “budding” — a fragment of the colony with one or more queens simply walking to a new location. When wings are present on alates, they are seldom used for flight.
Yellow Crazy Ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes)
Named for the erratic, rapid movement of workers, the Yellow Crazy Ant is one of the most destructive invasive species on Earth, declared among the world’s 100 worst invasive organisms. Originally from West Africa or South Asia, it has devastated ecosystems on Christmas Island, Hawaii, the Seychelles, and numerous other Pacific islands, where it forms supercolonies of staggering size. The winged queens are pale yellowish-brown and undertake nuptial flights primarily in the tropics and subtropics. Once established, this species aggressively farms honeydew-producing insects and can achieve densities that fundamentally alter the ecology of invaded habitats.
Red Wood Ant (Formica rufa)
A flagship species of European temperate forests, the Red Wood Ant constructs enormous mound nests of pine needles, twigs, and soil that can reach a meter or more in height and house hundreds of thousands of workers. Its winged alates are robust, bi-colored ants with a reddish thorax and dark abdomen, swarming in warm, sunny spring conditions. The species is ecologically critical in forest ecosystems as a predator of defoliating insects, a soil aerator, and a seed disperser. In parts of Europe it is a legally protected species. Multiple queens (polygyny) and colony fission through satellite nest budding are common in established populations.
Citronella Ant (Lasius claviger)
The Citronella Ant takes its evocative common name from the strong lemon-citronella scent emitted from its body when crushed — a scent produced by terpene compounds used for chemical communication and defense. Native to eastern North America, this subterranean species spends its entire life underground feeding on the honeydew of aphids and mealybugs that it tends on plant roots. Its winged alates emerge in late summer and early autumn, sometimes swarming indoors when colonies are located beneath building slabs. Though alarming in appearance, they are entirely harmless and do not establish indoor infestations — they simply wandered in through foundation gaps during their flight.
Longhorn Crazy Ant (Paratrechina longicornis)
Distinguished by its extraordinarily long legs and antennae relative to its small body, the Longhorn Crazy Ant moves with the same frantic, directionless energy that characterizes many members of its behavioral group. Its origins are uncertain — possibly Asia or Africa — but it is now one of the most widespread tramp ants in the world, found in tropical and subtropical urban environments across every inhabited continent. The winged queens are similarly elongated and slender, though nuptial flights are infrequent and colonies primarily spread by budding. It thrives in disturbed habitats and human structures, tolerating a wide range of conditions with remarkable resilience.
Big-headed Ant (Pheidole megacephala)
One of the world’s most ecologically destructive invasive ants, the Big-headed Ant originates from Africa but has spread to warm regions worldwide, where it devastates native ant communities and the wildlife that depends on them. Its colony is polymorphic — containing both small minor workers and large, disproportionately large-headed major workers (soldiers) — and its winged queens are similarly robust. Nuptial flights occur year-round in tropical climates. On Hawaii, Mauritius, and other island ecosystems, the species has contributed significantly to the collapse of native invertebrate fauna by outcompeting and displacing indigenous ant communities.
Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina)
Among the most sophisticated nest-builders in the insect world, the Green Weaver Ant constructs arboreal nests by binding living leaves together using silk produced by its own larvae, which the workers hold in their mandibles and use as living glue guns. Native to tropical Asia and Australia, it inhabits the rainforest canopy and produces large winged queens and smaller winged males that undertake nuptial flights at the onset of the wet season. These ants are commercially used as biological pest control agents in mango and cashew orchards across Southeast Asia and are also a traditional food source in several Asian and Australian Aboriginal cultures.
Driver Ant (Dorylus helvolus)
Driver Ants of sub-Saharan Africa are perhaps the most feared ants on earth, with raiding columns of hundreds of thousands of workers capable of overwhelming and consuming virtually any prey animal in their path. In a remarkable reversal of typical ant biology, it is the males — enormous, sausage-shaped, and nicknamed “sausage flies” — that are most commonly encountered as winged alates, as they fly to colonies to mate with multiple queens. The queens themselves are the largest in the ant world, reaching up to 52 mm and producing up to 3–4 million eggs per month. Workers are permanently wingless; only the males fly.
Trap-jaw Ant (Odontomachus bauri)
The Trap-jaw Ant holds the record for the fastest self-powered predatory strike of any animal — its mandibles snap shut at speeds reaching 145 mph (233 km/h), capable of stunning prey and, impressively, propelling the ant itself into the air as an escape mechanism. Native to Central and South America, this species inhabits forest litter and soil and produces winged alates that swarm in the humid tropical conditions of the wet season. Winged queens are noticeably elongated with powerful mandibles already visible before wing-shedding. The species has been introduced to Florida, where it is expanding its range.
Ghost Ant (Tapinoma melanocephalum)
The Ghost Ant earns its ethereal name from its near-transparent gaster and legs contrasted against a dark brown head and thorax — making it almost invisible on light-colored surfaces and extremely easy to overlook until an infestation is well established. Probably of African or Asian origin, it is now a widespread tropical and subtropical pest, especially common in Florida, Hawaii, and throughout the Caribbean, where it infiltrates homes to nest in wall voids, potted plant soil, and behind baseboards. Winged alates are rarely seen, as this species almost exclusively spreads by colony budding. When flights do occur, they are brief and easily missed.
Bullet Ant (Paraponera clavata)
Infamous for delivering what the Schmidt Pain Index rates as the most painful insect sting in the world — described as “pure, intense, brilliant pain, like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail embedded in your heel” — the Bullet Ant is a large, imposing species of lowland rainforest in Central and South America. Winged queens are comparatively rare to observe because colonies are small (a few thousand workers) and nuptial flights are infrequent. The sting of an alate queen is equally capable as that of a worker. Among the Sateré-Mawé people of Brazil, rite-of-passage ceremonies involve wearing gloves woven with living Bullet Ants.
Sugar Ant (Camponotus consobrinus)
Australia’s Sugar Ant is one of the most commonly encountered large ants in suburban gardens and homes across southeastern Australia, where its workers forage boldly on footpaths, walls, and kitchen benchtops after dark in search of sweet foods. Males are entirely black while queens have a distinctive orange-banded abdomen, making identification of the two sexes easier than in most ant species. Nuptial flights occur during the warmer months of the Australian summer, often on humid nights following rainfall. The species nests in soil or rotting wood and forms moderately sized colonies that are generally not destructive, despite their willingness to invade kitchens.
Tawny Crazy Ant (Nylanderia fulva)
Also called the Rasberry Crazy Ant after Tom Rasberry, the exterminator who first documented its alarming spread in Texas in 2002, the Tawny Crazy Ant is a South American native that has become a severe ecological and economic pest in the Gulf Coast states of the USA. It forms enormous supercolonies with multiple queens, displacing native ant species — including the previously dominant Red Imported Fire Ant — and infesting electrical equipment in sufficient numbers to cause short circuits and equipment failures. Winged alates are produced, but the species primarily spreads by queens walking with worker groups, enabling explosive range expansion across landscapes.
White-footed Ant (Technomyrmex albipes)
Native to the Indo-Pacific region and now established as an invasive pest in Florida, the Caribbean, and Hawaii, the White-footed Ant is recognizable by the pale, whitish tarsi (feet) that contrast against its otherwise uniformly blackish-brown body. Colonies are exceptionally large — sometimes exceeding 3 million individuals — with numerous queens distributed throughout a sprawling network of nesting sites in leaf litter, soil, and plant cavities. Winged alates are produced in abundance and swarm reliably, but colony budding is the primary dispersal mechanism. The species is particularly difficult to control because only about a third of worker ants actually forage outside, meaning baits often reach only a fraction of the colony.
Little Black Ant (Monomorium minimum)
As its name faithfully advertises, the Little Black Ant is among the smallest ants in North America, with workers measuring a mere 1–2 mm and winged queens only slightly larger at 4–5 mm. Native to North America, it nests in a remarkably wide variety of habitats — rotting wood, open lawns, garden soil, wall voids, and beneath stones — and produces winged alates that swarm in mid- to late summer, typically on warm evenings. Although colonies are small, the ants forage aggressively in kitchens and pantries and can be persistent household pests. Their tiny size allows them to enter structures through virtually any crack or gap in the building envelope.
Thief Ant (Solenopsis molesta)
The Thief Ant earns its name through a uniquely audacious foraging strategy — it establishes its nest directly adjacent to, or tunneled into, the nest of a larger ant species, from which it steals food, larvae, and pupae through narrow connecting tunnels too small for the host workers to follow. Native to North America, this tiny yellow ant is one of the most difficult to identify and control of all household ant pests, partly due to its minute size (workers 1–2 mm) and partly because its networks of internal nest tunnels make it almost impossible to locate with certainty. Winged alates swarm from late summer into early autumn, often on warm evenings.
Florida Carpenter Ant (Camponotus floridanus)
The Florida Carpenter Ant is the dominant large carpenter ant species of the southeastern United States, where its bold black-and-orange-red coloration makes it one of the most visually striking ants commonly encountered. Unlike its northern relative C. pennsylvanicus, it is not primarily a wood-destroyer but rather nests in pre-existing cavities and decaying wood in humid forest, scrub, and suburban settings. Winged queens are among the largest alates encountered by Florida residents — up to 20 mm — and swarm abundantly in spring and early summer, often appearing at lights. Colonies can contain tens of thousands of workers and occupy multiple nest sites across a property.
Amazon Slave-maker Ant (Polyergus rufescens)
The Amazon Slave-maker Ant pursues one of the most extraordinary lifestyles in the ant world — its workers are so specialized for raiding that they cannot even feed themselves and are entirely dependent on enslaved workers from other Formica species, which they capture as pupae and raise to serve the colony. Found across Europe and temperate Asia, the species produces shiny, reddish-brown winged queens that undertake nuptial flights in high summer. After mating, a new queen must infiltrate an existing Formica colony, kill or displace its queen, and use chemical mimicry to take over the host workers as her first “slave” workforce before her own offspring can be raised.
Rover Ant (Brachymyrmex patagonicus)
Originally from South America, the Dark Rover Ant has spread through the southern and southeastern United States as an increasingly common nuisance pest in homes, restaurants, and commercial kitchens. It is exceptionally small — workers measure just 1–1.5 mm — and its winged queens and males are among the tiniest flying ants a homeowner is likely to encounter, easily mistaken for flying gnats or fruit flies at first glance. Swarms occur in warm months and flights can take place both outdoors and indoors. The species nests in soil, mulch, rotting wood, and behind wall voids and is attracted to sweet foods, moisture, and the warmth of HVAC systems in commercial structures.
Conclusion
In all ant species, winged individuals — called alates — are the reproductive males and virgin queens. They develop wings solely for the nuptial flight, during which they swarm, mate mid-air, and disperse to found new colonies. After mating, queens shed their wings; males die shortly afterward.