Iridesc-ANT

It's a flying ant! (Which is to say, an ordinary garden ant with wings.) They were scurrying over the paving stones on the path, catching a last hot day for a final nuptial flight.
The emerging males and juvenile 'princesses' were struggling to unfurl their awkward new wings attended by scurrying workers fussing and guiding like anxious mothers before a senior prom. The bemused youngsters instinctively headed for the nearest high point, whether a blade of grass or, in this case, the stone gatepost, in order to get airborne.
Once lift-off is achieved the chase turns serious and the nuptials prove savage. The females release pheromones to attract the males and perform aeronautics to ensure that only the fastest and strongest will succeed in catching up with them.(Thank goodness for that sports scholarship!)
During the quick and violent mating, the male 'literally explodes his internal genitalia into the genital chamber of the queen' and dies as a result. He has no other purpose in life. (Was it all worth it? he wonders as he falls to earth.)
The mated female lands, objective achieved, bites off her own wings, and attempts to find a nest site where she can found a new colony. She will not need to mate again: the sperm she stores her first date will serve her for the rest of her long life as, if successful in becoming a queen, she will henceforward lay continuously - literally an egg factory - for as many as 20 years, attended all the while by her own worker offspring.
Of course the pitfalls that lie along the route to queendom are legion as we have seen with our own royal family and literally only one in a million succeed in transmitting their genes to the next generation - birds and adverse weather being the main hazards. Not to mention paparazzi: pass the gin will you?

This was a late date for ants to fly, usually they are to be seen swarming on hot windless days in June and July. I've logged it in the online Flying Ant Survey which is collecting records in order to discover more about the whole mysterious business. It's worth a look if you're interested.