AFFECTION FOR THE YOUNG. 533 



pupae : the neuters are the guards at the entrances, and defend the 

 nest against enemies; the males and .females are inactive, and remain 

 until they pair in the nest, they then fly forth, pair, and a single couple 

 of them are conveyed back again into the nest by the workers, and here 

 kept prisoners ; the rest die or are destroyed, losing immediately their 

 wings, when they are quite helpless. 



If we receive this description as true, particularly as the Termites, 

 according to general assertion, belong to the tribes with an imperfect 

 metamorphosis, and therefore might be active and industrious in their 

 larva state, yet the circumstance of its being without any analogy in the 

 whole animal world may be urged against it ; we have no other instance 

 of the young still undeveloped labouring for the old, and which as larvae 

 and pupae they must necessarily be. Besides, the assertion that the 

 neuters are apterous is not correct, for I have had the opportunity of 

 dissecting winged Termites, through the kindness of the Privy Coun- 

 cillor Klug, the Conservator of the Royal Berlin collection, and I did 

 not find the least trace of either external or internal genitalia : nor had 

 they the large head with projecting mandibles, but one perfectly cor- 

 responding with that of the males and females. But these Termites 

 readily lost their wings upon the least touch, and retained but a small 

 triangular basal piece at the thorax. There is, namely, at the base of 

 the wing, close to its root, an apparent joint, in front of which the wing 

 is horny, but behind it soft and membranous, and provided only upon 

 its anterior margin with ribs. The wing is easily broken off at this 

 joint, and therefore the neuters very speedily lose their wings, but they 

 are not, as maintained by writers, wingless. Nor do I see why the 

 neuters should be merely the defenders, as these among all other social 

 insects are the true workers. If it may be allowed to start hypotheses 

 upon subjects that can only be satisfactorily explained by experience, 

 we might also, with reference to the society of the Termites, admit 

 of the community consisting of merely males, females, and abortive 

 females,, or neuters, and that the latter were likewise winged, but from 

 external causes speedily lost their wings after their development. To 

 these might be added the larvae and pupae which would intermix with 

 the swarms of neuters, but not participate in the labours ; they have 

 no wings, and consequently resemble the neuters when the latter have 

 lost them, thence has sprung the assertion that the larvae are workers. 

 The larvae and the pupae, in consequence of their much greater voracity, 

 may especially contribute to the destruction of furniture, as well as of 



