A SWARM of giant ants has washed up on El Portil beach in Huelva.

Bathers have been warned to stay off the beach after thousands of the insects were seen on the shores of the west coast of the province yesterday.

A cluster of the creepy-crawlies of over a metre in width and stretching all along the coast is thought to be a result of the recent rainfall in the area.

Although native to the south coast, the ants tend to come out during the wild mushroom harvest season.

It is rare that so many of this species are seen at once.

These ants reproduce when the male and female collide in mid-air, and once the female is pregnant, her wings fall off and she drops to the ground.