THE SOCIAL INSECTS 



according to the species. It can be well imagined that flights 

 of winged termites cause great excitement in all the beasts 

 of the field and birds of the air, and that enormous numbers 

 of the termites are eaten before some are able to dig their 

 nuptial chamber. In South America nests of social wasps are 

 often found to be stocked with winged termites, and some 

 South American Indians are fond of eating them. 



Fig. 12 



Scene in the royal chamber of the African Termes bellicosus 



showing the king, queen and attendant soldiers and workers 



(after Escherich). 



THE COLONY AND ITS FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 



In the less specialised termites the young king and queen 

 eat rotten wood during the early part of colony-foundation ; 

 from it they elaborate food which they supply to the first 

 stages of their brood. In them, too, the brood quite soon are 

 themselves able to feed on wood and later to take over the 

 supply of food for the royal couple, who eventually no longer 

 feed themselves at all. In the most specialised termites the 

 nuptial chamber is often made in the soil where there is no 

 external source of food. The first brood is brought up 

 entirely by the royal couple, who rely on what was in their 

 intestines at the time of flight, on the enormous fat-reserves 



174 



