Every year on 8 September, clouds of winged ants swarm over Monte delle Formiche, darkening the sky as they have done for hundreds of years. After mating on their nuptial flight, the males fall lifeless on the ground outside the church once called Santa Maria Formicarum. Tourists and pilgrims gather to celebrate the festival dedicated to the "Virgin of the Mount of Ants". The poet Maurice Maeterlinck and the entomologist Carlo Emery studied the bugs' habits in relationship to human behavior: their words echo the voices of the witnesses to the yearly event.
