INSECT SOCIETIES LAMEERE. 521 



nourishment of the larvae by their parents. The initial couple 

 among the termites, the nest-building fertilized female among the 

 hymenoptera, would not have been able to furnish their young with 

 the food necessary to the development of their genital organs. This 

 misfortune would have been able to entail the extinction of the 

 species had not the social life come to save it. 



Insect societies are anomalies if this term is applied to every 

 phenomenon deviating notably from that which is usual in nature. 

 The neuters are extraordinary beings capable of maintaining their 

 existence, being useful through their behavior. They bear witness 

 to the triumph of life through death. The multicellular organisms 

 owe their power to the death of the somatic cells; in the same way 

 the exuberance of the insect societies results from the death of 

 innumerable neuters, sacrificed to certain privileged individuals, in 

 the interest of the race. 





