Well I was holding onto these in favor of a more noticeable flight but it seems the heat of summer hindered the alate development some and now we have the snow. What is typically several dozen colonies in my yard sending out alates was only one this year, and it wasn't impressive at all.
Lasius claviger holds their nuptial flights at this time of year. Normally they have huge flights in the afternoon which are very noticeable. Their wings catch the afternoon sun in such a way that it becomes very apparent that they're flying around. Occasionally, when standing just in the shade if you were to look into the sun the effect of glowing wings can sometimes be viewed high above in the air.
As I said though weather conditions seem to be forcing these ants into either holding off on their flights or canceling them all together. It wouldn't surprise me to learn there was a rise of flights happening indoors as they sometimes do over the winter.
