In the third and last stage, they are winged; their bodies then measure about 7/8ths of an inch in length, furnished with four brownish transparent wings, rather large; they have eyes also of a disproportionate size, visible to the observer.  When they make their appearance in this state, it is indicative of the approach of the rainy season.  At this period they procreate their species.

They seldom wait before they take wing for a second or third shower; and should the rain happen in the night, the quantities of them which are found the next morning upon the surface of the earth, and on the waters, more particularly upon the latter, are astonishing.  The term of existence at this stage is extremely short, and frequently on the following morning after they have taken flight, they are surprisingly weakened and decreased; at the utmost I do not think they live more than two days; and these insects, so industrious, courageous, and destructive in the two first periods of their existence, become the prey of innumerable enemies.  Indolent, and incapable of resisting the smallest insects, they are hunted by various species from place to place, and not one pair in millions get into a place of safety, to fulfil the laws of nature and propagation.

Their wings in a short time fall from them, and the ponds and brooks are covered with their carcases.  The Negroes in many places collect them in their calabashes, dry them, and fry them on a slow fire, which they consider as a delicious morsel.

A few, however, escape the general dissolution, several pairs of them are found by those of the first genus, as they are continually moving over the surface of the earth, and are carried by them to found new kingdoms and communities.  The royal mansion is then erected, as before described, their wings fall off, and they pass the remainder of their existence in indolence and luxury, and in the propagation of their species.  Their dimensions now undergo a monstrous change, more especially the queen; her abdomen augments by degrees, and increases to a prodigious size, when compared with her two first stages of existence; and the king, although greatly augmented, yet is diminutive compared to his enormous spouse, who sometimes exceeds three inches in length.  She is in this state extremely prolific, and the matrix is almost perpetually yielding eggs, which are taken from her by her attendants, and are carried into the adjoining nurseries.

The foregoing is a very imperfect delineation of this wonderful insect, which requires the minutest description by an experienced and scientific naturalist to illustrate clearly; and there are many secrets in the natural history of this little animal that would amply reward his investigation upon the different circumstances attending its existence.