148 NATURAL HISTORY. [CH. VIII, 



{curcuUo palmarum), which is served up at all the 

 luxurious tables of the West Indian epicures, par- 

 ticularly of the French, as the greatest dainty of the 

 Western world." 



The different species of this genus resemble each 

 other in form, in their manner of living, and in their 

 good and bad qualities, but differ as much as birds 

 in the manner of building their habitations, and in 

 the choice of the material of which they compose 

 them. 



Some build on the surface of the ground, or partly 

 above and partly beneath, and some on the stems or 

 branches of trees, sometimes aloft at a vast height. 



Their societies consist of five different descrip- 

 tions of individuals. 



1. Workers or larvce, answering to the neuters of 

 bees. These constitute the most numerous division 

 of the community; they construct the nest and take 

 charge of the young, until the latter are capable of 

 providing for themselves. 



2. Nymphs or pupaB: which differ in nothing 

 from the larvae, except in possessing the rudiments 

 of wings. 



3. Neuters: which are known by their large 

 heads, armed with very long mandibles. These 

 exceed the labourers much in bulk, and are in nu- 

 merical proportion to the latter as 1 to 100. They 

 are the soldiers of the community. 



4 and 5. A male and female arrived at their full 

 state of perfection. Each community contains but 

 one of each of these, and they are strictly king and 

 queen ; they are exempt from all the ordinary duties 

 falling upon their subjects: when first disclosed 

 from the pupa, they have four wings ; but like the 

 ants, they soon cast off these members. They are 

 known from the blind larvre, pupae, and neuters, by 

 their having two large eyes. 



" In this form," says Smeathman, " the animal 

 eomes abroad durino- or soon after the first tornado 



