134 



THE WINGS OF ISOPTERA 



work and an increase in the wrinkling of the wing in the more specialized 

 genera; this is well shown in the wings of Leiicotermes . Other distinctive 

 features of the termite type of wing are the provision made for the shedding 

 of the wings after the swarming flight, a strengthening of the anterior por- 

 tion of the wing, the development of a group of prominent accessory veins 

 on cubitus near the base of the wing, the reduction of the veins in the inter- 



^5 



\\\\V '} '. \ V 



Fig. 128. — Base of a fore wing of Mastotermes darwiniensis, showing the 

 wing-trachese and the following: hs, humeral suture; F, anal 

 furrow; mf, median furrow; P, posterior lobe of the wing. 



M 



Cu 



mediate region to mere lines, and the position of the principal forks of 

 radius near the base of the wing. 



The evidence presented by the wings indicates that the termites con- 

 stitute a highly specialized and very distinct order of insects one that was 

 evolved early and one that has progressed far in its peculiar methods of 

 specialization of the wings 



The view that they are highly specialized insects is supported by the 

 fact that they have attained a social mode of life, with the coiTclated 

 separation of the species into numerous castes and the development of 

 remarkable instincts. 



