TERMITIDAE 379 



in Insect societies, we may conclude that it is for some reason 

 absolutely essential to Insect social life. It is true that there 

 are in Termitidae certain partial exceptions, and these are so 

 interesting that we may briefly note them. When a royal cell is 

 opened it usually contains but a single female and male, and 

 when a community in which royal cells are not used is inspected 

 it is usually found that here also there are present only a single 

 fertile female and a single king. Occasionally, however, it 

 happens that numerous females are present, and it has been 

 noticed that in such cases they are not fully matured females, but 

 are imperfect, the condition of the wings and the form of the 

 anterior parts of the body being that of adolescent, not adult 

 Insects. It will be recollected that the activity of a community 

 of Termites centres round the great fertility of the female ; 

 without her the whole community is, as Grassi graphically puts 

 it, orphaned ; and the observations of the Italian naturalist 

 make it clear that these imperfect royalties are substitution 

 queens, derived from specimens that have not undergone the 

 natural development, but have been brought into use to meet the 

 calamity of orphanage of the community. The Termites appar- 

 ently have the power of either checking or stimulating the reproduc- 

 tive organs apart from other organs of the body, and they appear to 

 keep a certain number of individuals in such a condition that in case 

 of anything going wrong with the queen, the reserves may be brought 

 as soon as possible into a state of reproductive activity. The in- 

 dividuals that are in such a condition that they can become pseudo- 

 royalties are called complementary or reserve royalties, and when 

 actually brought into use they become substitution royalties. It 

 is not at present quite clear why the substitution royalties should be 

 in such excess of numbers as we have stated they were in the case 

 we have figured (Fig. 236), but it may be due to the fact that when 

 the power of the community is at a certain capacity for supporting 

 young a single substitution royalty would not supply the requisite 

 producing power, and consequently the community adopts a 

 greater number of the substitution forms. Termites are utterly 

 regardless of the individual lives of the members of the community, 

 and when the reproductive powers of the company of substitution 

 royalties become too great, then their number is reduced by the 

 effective method of killing and eating them. 



According to Grassi's observations, the communities of Termes 



