104 



The Termites, or White Ants 



three genera, and found about Stanford University, have been recently 

 studied by Professor Harold Heath. These are Termopsis angusticollis, 

 the largest of the American termites, Calotermes castaneus, a small species with 

 brown-bodied winged forms, and Termes lucifugus, a small white species 

 common in Europe, and probably brought to this country from there. The fol- 

 lowing account of Termopsis augusticollis is based chiefly on Heath's * studies. 

 Termopsis angusticollis (Fig. 136) is the largest of the three species and 

 the most abundant. In favorable localities colonies may be found in almost 

 every stump and decaying log, and even in dead branches on otherwise healthy 

 trees. The galleries are made in the deeper portions of the wood, and 

 usually follow the grain. The colonies with the primary royal pair number 

 usually from 50 to 1000 individuals, and include workers, soldiers, and im- 

 mature forms. The full-grown workers (Fig. 136) are f in. long, the soldiers 

 (Fig. 136) f in., and the kings and queen (Fig. 137) a little less, while the 

 wings expand i^ in. After the death of the primary royalties and the 

 development of several substitute royal 

 forms the egg-laying and consequent 

 increase of the colony are much more 

 rapid. Heath counted 3221 individuals 



FIG. 136. FIG. 137. 



FIG. 136. The large termite of California, Termopsis angusticollis; workers, young, 



and a soldier. (From life; natural size.) 

 FIG. 137. A, Dealated primary queen of Termopsis angusticollis, at least four years 



old; B, complemental queen. (After Heath; three times natural size.) 



in one colony, in which were also thousands of eggs. The colony which we 

 found in the yellow-pine log in the King's River Canon certainly num- 

 bered many thousands. In the late summer or early autumn the nymphs 

 (young stage, with visible wing-pads of perfect insects) that have developed 

 during the year moult, the operation taking from ten to twenty minutes, 

 after which they rest for two hours, while the wings expand, and the 

 body- wall hardens and darkens; they take flight usually about dusk. Some 



* Heath, H., The Habits of California Termites, Biological Bulletin, vol. 4, 1902, 

 pp. 47-63. 



