378 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV, 



individuals are very numerous in the colony, and have the head and 

 thirteen body segments distinct, the bcdy being terminated by a pair 



«• ' b. 



Fig. 25.— Common White Ant or Termite. Termes taprobanes (India) «, worker ; 

 b, soldier; c, winged male; d, wing of male (enlarged 1£ times);?, 

 female or Queen Ant after pairing, showing enormously swollen body- 

 containing the eggs ; /, a larva (a, b, $ f, greatly enlarged). 

 of short cerci. 



The integument is delicate and the chitinous plates are never very 



hard, at times being so slightly 



developed that the Insect appears 



to consist of a single membranous 



sac with creases in it, the head 



alone being distinct. The head is 



exerted and frequently of large 



size, sometimes nearly as large as 



all the rest of the body together 



(See Fig. 256.) Termites may 



be quite blind or may possess simple and compound eyes. The 



w 



f. 



antennae are momliforni, and short, and the legs are like one another. 



