In Lisieux, north of France, firefighters rushed to tackle what seemed to be a flame at a church, only to find that it was a giant swarm of flying ants.
The incident happened at the basilica on Wednesday.
A local resident had raised the alarm after seeing “smoke” apparently coming out from the church roof.
Laurent Boivin at the town’s centre for emergencies said “we quickly identified the cloud as flying insects. We had feared a big fire inside the basilica.”
“It was sheer coincidence that the ants chose to swarm above the basilica,” he added.
According to scientists, ants pick a summer day for mating by sensing temperature, humidity and day length.
They like warm, humid conditions, which make it easier for them to fly and for mated queens to dig nests in the soft ground. Queens mate with males during flight.
