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XVIII. Characters of Empia, a Genus of Insects allied to the White Ants 
(Termites) ; with Descriptions of the Species of which it is composed. By 
J. O. Wzsrwoop, Esq., F.L.S. 
Read March 4th, 1834. 
THE extraordinary ceconomy and destructive habits of the White Ants have 
attracted so great a share of the attention of naturalists, that every object 
with which they are allied is necessarily rendered worthy of observation. I 
need therefore offer but little apology for submitting to the Linnean Society the 
following descriptions of several singular insects possessing a very close affinity 
with the Termites, feeling convinced that this circumstance alone would ren- 
der my paper acceptable, although unaccompanied (as our descriptions of 
exotic insects are unfortunately too often compelled to be) by any account of 
their habits and modus vivendi: moreover, the extreme rarity of the insects in 
question may be urged in support of their interest, since it is presumed that. 
of the three exotic species of which the genus Embia is now composed a 
single specimen only of each has hitherto come under the observation of ento- 
mologists. Another interesting peculiárity arises from the fact that each of 
these three insects is from a different quarter of the globe, and is distinguished 
by characters of a higher rank than mere specific distinction, whence I have 
been under the necessity of considering each as a distinct subgenus. The 
singular form of the anterior tarsi and the white lines on the wings of all the 
species are also worthy of attention. 
In the Annulose portion of the great national French work on Egypt, 
which, unfortunately for science, from the overwhelming number of micro- 
scopie observations therein exhibited, deprived the unfortunate Savigny of 
sight, we find two beautiful figures, accompanied by elaborate details of an 
insect bearing considerable resemblance to the. Termes. In consequence, how- 
ever, of the circumstances connected with the publication of the Entomological 
