THE SWARMING OF THE 

 WHITE ANTS 



LAST night the white ants swarmed ; to-day- 

 fallen wings are scattered in thousands over 

 J the floor of the bungalow. What a strange 

 phenomenon is this swarming of the ter- 

 mites ! It unfailingly accompanies the first rain of the 

 monsoon, whether this comes in June, as in Upper 

 India, or in October, as it happens in Madras. Scarcely 

 is the ground thoroughly saturated with moisture when 

 the swarms of white ants arise, apparently from no- 

 where ; and, if they happen to appear at night-time, 

 they make for the light and thus invade the bungalow. 



Each of these myriads of swarming termites is pro- 

 vided with two pairs of large wings. Nevertheless, the 

 insects appear to have but little control over their move- 

 ments ; their flight reminds one of the tottering of a 

 child when first it trusts itself to its weak little legs. 

 The wings are ephemeral structures ; their possessors 

 are given no time in which to grow accustomed to them, 

 for they are used for an hour or two and then cast off 

 to perish. Notwithstanding this, they are beautiful 

 objects ; each is exquisitely fashioned, every one is the 

 work of a master hand. 



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