20 ON THE ORIGIN AND [CHAP. 



they attack woodwork and furniture of all kinds, 

 generally working from within, so that their presence 

 is often unsuspected, until it is suddenly found that 

 they have completely eaten away the interior of 

 some post or table, leaving nothing but a thin outer 

 shell. Their nests, which are made of earth, are 

 sometimes ten or twelve feet high, and strong enough 

 to bear a man. One species, Termes hicifugus, is 

 found in the South of France, where it has been 

 carefully studied by Latreille. He found in these 

 communities five kinds of individuals (i) males ; 

 (2) females, which grow to a very large size, their 

 bodies being distended with eggs, of which they 

 sometimes lay as many as 80,000 in a day ; (3) a 

 form described by some observers as Pupae, but by 

 others as neuters. These differ very much from the 

 others, having a long, soft body without wings, but 

 with an immense head, and very large, strong jaws. 

 These individuals act as soldiers, doing apparently 

 no work, but keeping watch over the nest and at- 

 tacking intruders with great boldness. (4) Apterous, 

 eyeless individuals, somewhat resembling the winged 

 ones, but with a larger and more rounded head ; 

 these constitute the greater part of the community, 

 and, like the workers of ants and bees, perform all the 

 labour, building the nest and collecting food. (5) 

 Latreille mentions another kind of individual which 

 he regards as the pupa, and which resembles the 

 workers, but has four white tubercles on the back, 

 where the wings afterwards make their appearance. 

 There is still, however, much difference of opinion 

 among entomologists, with reference to the true 

 nature of these different classes of individuals. M. 



