CHAPTER X 



THE WHITE ANTS, BOOK-LICE, AND BIRD-LICE (PLATYPTERA) 



Characteristics. Insects with two pairs of delicate, membranous wings equal 

 or the hind pair smaller, and with the principal veins few and simple, or entirely 

 wingless ; mouth-parts, mandibulate ; body, flattened ; prothorax, broad ; meta- 

 morphosis, incomplete. 



The Platyptera (from platys, "flat," and//mw, "a wing," allud- 

 ing to the wings of the white ants, which lie flat on the back when 

 at rest) include three groups, which are often considered as separate 

 orders and are quite dis- 

 tinct in appearance and 

 habits, but may well be 

 placed in a single or- 

 der based upon the struc- 

 tural characters given 

 above. When present 

 the wings are never net- 

 veined, and the book-lice 

 and bird-lice are wing- 

 less. The body is usually 

 flattened and the pro- 

 thorax is usually well- 

 developed and distinct. 



The white ants (Ter- 

 mitidae) are well-known 

 inhabitants of fallen logs 

 and decaying wood, and 

 are readily mistaken for 

 ants by the casual observer. The light yellowish color and the fact 

 that the abdomen is broadly joined to the thorax, with no toothed 

 constriction, as in the true ants, easily distinguish them. Though 

 entirely unrelated to the true ants, they have a very similar social 

 organization, with several distinct castes, of which only the so-called 



FIG. 133. 



White ants, or termites. (Enlarged) 



a, queen ; t>, male : r, worker ; d, soldier. (After Jordan 



and Kellogg) 



