TERMITES, THE DESTROYERS 75 



but smaller than the queens. Sometimes there 

 are three different kinds of kings and queens 

 living in the same nest. 



Altogether there may be five kinds of termites 

 in the same colony: the soldiers to protect the 

 nest, the workers to build, to hunt food, and to 

 care for the young, and the kings and queens to 

 produce eggs. 



Most of the year there are only a few kings 

 and queens in each colony, but in the spring, 

 about the time the rains begin again after the dry 

 season, a great many princes and princesses are 

 hatched out. None of the other termites in their 

 family has any wings, but each of these has two 

 pairs. 



You will remember that the hard shell of the 

 termite nest completely covers it. There is no 

 opening for termites to get out or anything else 

 to get in. But when the rains come and all the 

 princes and princesses are hatched out, the workers 

 make holes in the nest walls while the soldiers 

 mount guard to kill ants or other interfering 

 enemies. 



When all is ready, usually at the end of a warm 

 rain, the royal children climb out and fly away 

 into a world that they have never known before. 

 They are heavy -bodied like their parents, and fly 

 slowly. Birds eat a great many of them, but 

 there are still enough left to trouble the natives 

 who do not have screened porches. Swarms of 



