EEvisioisr or neaectic termites. 105 



The castes are the three types of reproductive forms and the wingless 

 and normally sterile workers and soldiers. The three reproductive 

 castes follow the nomenclature of the three types of nymphs from 

 which they have arisen, and are called reproductive adults of the 

 first form, second form, and third form (Thompson, 1917). In tropi- 

 cal species of some genera there are two different types of soldiers, 

 or, more rarel}^, of workers, so that there may be as many as seven 

 different adult forms in the same colony. 



The different types of reptvductive forms. — ^As has been previously 

 stated, there is no definite, centrally located "royal cell," as in 

 tropical species of termites. There is always an element ot unusual 

 interest connected with searching for and finding the queen. In 

 species where there is a centrally located "royal cell" success is only 

 a question of time, patience, and labor. Certain savage peoples 

 search for these large queens for food and they are considered quite 

 a delicacy. It was once thought that, since the queen mother was 

 the source of the colony life, if she were destroyed the termite colony 

 could be exterminated. This, of course, has been disproved by more 

 recent investigation of the insects, revealing a complex life cycle. 



In case of our native termites, "true queens" were thought either 

 to be very rare or not to exist until quite recently; this idea has been 

 disproved by Joutel (1893), Hubbard and Schwarz (1901), Schaeffer 

 (1902), Heath (1903), and the junior author (1912). An historical 

 account of the first finding of these forms in the United States is given 

 by the junior author (Snyder, 1915). In searching for the cell 

 which contains the "queen" it must be remembered that its location 

 depends upon the species and the habits of the termite and, in some 

 degree, upon the season of the year. The fact must also be borne 

 in mind that termites have several different types of reproductive 

 forms. The commonest type is the dealated, colonizing, sexual 

 adult, developed from nymphs of the first form; that is an adult queen 

 of the first form. Queens of this type reach the largest dimensions. 



Unlike most insects, there is an actual "post-adult" grow^th in the 

 case of the older termite queen wdth distended abdomen (fig. 61, 1), 

 due chiefly to the development of the ovaries (pis. 27, 28, and 29), 

 but there is in addition a multiplication of cells, as fat cells, and blood 

 cells. After feeding and a later inflation of the body with fat, together 

 with the development of the sex organs, the abdomen of the male or 

 king also becomes slightly increased in size (fig. 61, 2). The males 

 of both the first and second reproductive types continue to cohabit 

 with the queen and there is repeated copulation. 



Another type of reproductive form is that of the "second form" 



(Thompson, 1917) with short wing pads, varying in length. This 



type is developed from the nymph of the second form (Lespes) with 



short wing pads; it is common in colonies of species of Reticulitermes 



110162— 20— Bull. 108 8 



