One of the winged ants, or perfect males and females, of an ant’s nest; a favorite bait in angling.
1653. Walton, Angler, 221. Take the blackish Ant-fly out of … the Ant-hil.
1746. Miles, in Phil. Trans., XLIV. 354. Winged Ants commonly known by the Name of Ant-Flies.
1787. T. Best, Angling (ed. 2), 117. The little Red and Black Ant-Flies come on about the tenth or twelfth of August.
[1867. F. Francis, Angling, vi. (1880), 233. The Red and Black Ants are very favourite fies during July.]
