74 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



February 2.^ 1914. 



INSECT NOTES. 



TERMITES OR WHITE ANTS. 



Although termites, or white ants, as they are often 

 -called, are of common occurrence and the cause of a consider- 

 able amount of injury throughout the West Indies, yet but 

 little is known of these insects as regards their habits life- 

 histories, and even their identicy. The reasons for this are 

 perhaps to be found in the facts that termites are not often 

 serious pests of growing crops and that they usually commit 

 their depredations under concealment. 



Nearly every resident in the West Indies is familiar 

 with the injury which these insects cause to furniture, the 

 timber of houses, sheds, palings and all wooden structures, 

 and with the curious tunnels through which certain species 

 pass along the exposed surfaces of walls, the trunks and 

 branches of trees, etc., while in certain localities the charac- 

 teristic nests of these insects are frequently to be seen. 



Readers of the A;iricultwral News will remember refer- 

 ences from time to time to the occurrence in St. Kitts of 

 a termite as a pest of growing canes. In 1912, the Eato- 

 mologist on the Staff of this Department spent a consiiierable 

 amount of time in St Kitts investigating the insect pests of 

 sugar-cane, chief among which were the termites. At the 

 same time, collections of other termites were made in that 

 island and during .short visits in Montserrat and ntigua. 

 The material thus obtained together with other collections 

 by the Entomologist and the Agricultural Officers in other 

 islands was sent to the Imperial Bureau of Entomology for 

 study. 



The material submitted for examination was found to 

 represent eleven species, ten of which were from the Lesser 

 Antilles, two being new to science, and one was from Porto 

 Rico. These eleven species are included in five genera. 



The accompanying table will serve to show at a glance the 

 distribution of the several species so far identified, and it also 

 indicates how incomplete is the record of these insects in 

 these islands. For instance, there are no species given for 

 Dominica and St. Lucia, only one each for Grenada, Mont- 

 serrat and Antigua, while in Barbados and St. Kitts there are 

 records of four and six respectively. 



In addition to the material already identified, there are 

 still a few specimens awaiting study at the Laboratory at the 



Head Office which will give new locality records and may add 

 to the number of species. It is desired to obtain further 

 material and it is hoped that agricultural officers and others 

 who may have the opportunity will forward material for 

 further study. 



One of the species mentioned in these notes is known 

 as a pest of growing canes while others attack living trees, 

 and newly planted cane cuttings, while probably all, including 

 these, attack the woodwork of buildings, etc. 



Leucotoiuex tenuis is the species which has often been 

 referred to as a serious pest of canes in St. Kitts, while the 

 species of Eutermes are known to attack cane plants in the 

 field in Antigua and Porto Rico. Two species of Calotermes 

 attack living trees — C. halloui being reported from cicao 

 trees in Grenada, and from the heartwood of a Pithecolo- 

 bium in St. Vincent, and C. incisus was found in the wood 

 of a living Avocado pear tree in Barbados. 



The name while ants and wood ants as applied to 

 termites is quite misleading since it implies a relationship 

 between these insects and the true ants. Termites are like 

 ants only in the matter of being social insects living in large 

 colonies composed of speciallj' modified individuals represent- 

 ing several castes. The ants are insects of the natural order 

 Hymenoptera: the young when hatched from the eggs are 

 maggot like grubs, without feet or legs, and when these are 

 full-grown they reach the adult condition after passing 

 through a quiescent pupal stage. In other words, they have 

 a complete metamorphosis. 



The termites, on the other hand, are insects with an 

 incomplete metamorphosis, more closely related to the 

 Orthoptera and Neuroptera. The newly hatched young are 

 in general shape something like the adults, they are free- 

 moving and are possessed of three pairs of legs. They do not 

 pass through a quiescent pupal stage. In certain of the 

 islands termites are commonly known as wood lice. This 

 name is also an unfortunate one since in other countries 

 certain crustaceans are referred to by this term. 



The different forms or castes in a termite's nest are as 

 follows: (1) The egg-laying female or queen. There are 

 often several of these in a nest and according to the accounts 

 published by several students of these insects each queen is 

 associated with a royal male or king, although this male 

 has not been found in any of the nests opened in the collect- 

 ing of the insects on which these notes are based, or it might 

 perhaps be more correct to state that they have not been 

 recognized. The queens are wingless but examination will 

 reveal the presence of wing stumps showing that wings have 

 been present, but have been shed. 



1^2) wini::ed SEXU.iL FOE.MS. These are present in great 

 numbers in the nests of certain species, at least at certain 

 times of the year, and at all times many immature form.s 

 of these as indicated by the wing-pads in different degrees 

 of development. 



(3) woEKERS. These are wingless forms, generally 

 short and thick-bodied. 



(4) SOLDIERS. The soldiers are characterized by an 

 unusual development of the head. In certain species, the 

 head is nearly as large as the rest of the insect. Sometimes 

 the mandibles are extraordinarily developed, while in others 

 the head and mandibles are developed into a cone-shaped 

 structure. 



(5) L.'VEVAE. These include the immature individuals 

 which will be developed to form the sexual winged forms, 

 the soldiers and the workers. 



(6) EGGS. Careful search of any well-establised nest 

 will generally reveal the presence of enormous numbers of 

 the eggs. 



