Above is a type of digger wasp – the mournful wasp (Pemphredon lugubris). I thought it looked like a flying ant at first, but it has a hammer-shaped head with big jaws, and a waisted body. It is all black – including its legs and antennae. It lives in wooded areas, nests in decayed wood and feeds on aphids.
Winged ants (or alates) appear at different times around the country. Flying Ant Day is when winged males (drones) and virgin queens (princesses) emerge from the nest to mate with partners from different colonies and set up new colonies. The number of Flying Ant Days depends on the weather. It is usually a hot and humid day, or spell. In Cornwall there was a Flying Ant Day a couple of weeks ago on 9August. I heard on Radio Cornwall that ants were swarming and, sure enough, there was a swarm of ants on the lawn next to our patio, and some found their way to the steps leading down to the water meadow, so I could count black garden ants on the tally!