If you looked down at the ground this past week you probably saw an interesting site.  Swarms of winged, red ants were milling around.  While the number of these ants in the area seemed alarming, they were going through a natural occurrence in their life cycle.  They were completing the mating process.  These ants were the common Red Harvester Ants.  Both males and females are winged until the mating process is complete.  Once complete, the males die while the female will find a site to lay eggs.  She will become the queen ant and a new colony will then be formed, usually around where the swarming occurred.  The eggs will go through the life cycle to become the worker ants.  The worker ants work to make the nest larger and hunt for food for the colony.  These ants eat seeds and dead insects that have been collected and stored in the nest for the whole colony to eat.  They are the main food source for other animal, mainly the Texas Horned Lizard.  Red Harvester Ants can be a nuisance to people, lawns and pastures; they have a sharp sting and the colonies they form deplete vegetation in a 3-6 foot circle around the opening.  These colonies can be controlled by using commercially available insecticides marketed specifically for ants.