302 SUMMER 



history of the honey-bee. And as with the Mayfly the 

 flight is composed of many males and some few queens. 

 Presently all will tumble down, as one has seen a pair of 

 bees tumble, and the ground receives a shower of ants, the 

 drops spread so wide that it is invisible. 



In August ecstasy is short-lived ; the winged hours are 

 brief. To see the ants we must return to the roots of the 

 grasses. All of them become glued to the ground. Most of 

 the winged crowd lose, as it seems, desire for life now the 

 climax is reached. Idle and half-helpless winged things are 

 scattered about the grass, preparing to die. But among these 

 are some who are preparing to surrender not life but freedom. 

 The dying horde die within the shroud of their wings. The 

 survivors, burning their boats, make ready to surrender the 

 wings on which they have enjoyed the freedom of the air in 

 order to recover the freedom of the ground. The act is to 

 all seeming conscious and deliberate. In the actions of 

 insects there is ever appearing some odd symbolic suggestion, 

 and among the most suggestive is this shedding of the wings 

 by the mother ant. Possibly at this date the wings may 

 grow a little loose in the socket, or begin to cause some 

 physical irritation ; but what you see is an animal, possessed 

 of the most splendid and lovely member that is given to any 

 creature, deliberately and with effect ridding herself of the 

 gift in order that she may attend to lowly and more necessary 

 duties. Getting rid of the wings is a most laborious affair, 

 and there seems to be no established or instinctive method of 

 doing it. However the stiff short grasses of a lawn are as useful 

 as anything else. You may see these self-sacrificing insects 

 scratch and rub their wings against the blades, trying to force 

 them off in this cumbrous manner. They bend the wing this 

 way and that, fold it under their body by a complicated grip 

 of the legs. Finally, after a score of apparently vain efforts 



