MASONS 91 



bite through to allow of the exit of the winged 

 thousands. 



" They clear the way for their bulky but fragile 

 bodies, and bite holes through the outer walls for 

 their escape. The exodus is not completed in one 

 day, but continues until all the males and females 

 have emerged from their pupa integuments, and 

 flown away. It takes place on moist, close evenings, 

 or on cloudy mornings : they are much attracted 

 by the lights in houses, and fly by myriads into 

 chambers, filling the air with a loud rustling noise, 

 and often falling in such numbers that they extin- 

 guish the lamps. Almost as soon as they touch 

 ground they wriggle off their wings, to aid which 

 operation there is a special provision in the structure 

 of the organs, a seam running across near their roots 

 and dividing the horny nervures. To prove that 

 this singular mutilation was voluntary on the part 

 of the insects, I repeatedly tried to detach the wings 

 by force, but could never succeed whilst they were 

 fresh, for they always tore out by the roots. 



" Few escape the innumerable enemies which 

 are on the alert at these times to devour them : 

 ants, spiders, lizards, toads, bats, and goatsuckers. 

 The waste of life is astonishing. The few that do 

 survive pair and become the kings and queens of 

 new colonies. I ascertained this by finding single 

 pairs a few days after the exodus, which I always 

 examined and proved to be males and females, 

 established under a leaf, a clod of earth, or wander- 

 ing about under the edges of new tumuli. ... I 



