122 BOMBAY DUCKS 



which most of the members are sexless creatures. The 

 settlement is composed of a royal couple, whose sole 

 function is to produce young, and the workers and the 

 soldiers, who conduct all the rest of the affairs of the 

 little nation. The neuters have no wings. The kings 

 and queens are born with these organs, but lose them 

 early in life. The winged swarms that appeared yes- 

 terday are the sexual forms ; they are potential royalties ; 

 each has in it the making of a king or queen, if it can 

 secure subjects. 



At one time it was believed that the object of the 

 swarming of white ants was the foundation of new 

 colonies. It was thought that the winged creatures 

 paired during flight or immediately after their wings 

 had fallen off, and then each couple founded a new 

 colony. This belief has been somewhat shaken recently 

 by Grassi, who has made a prolonged study of the 

 termites which live in Sicily. He declares that nothing 

 comes of the flight, that it is utterly destroyed, that 

 each component individual is devoured by some bird 

 or beast ; not one survives. Further, these winged 

 termites are very silly creatures ; they never make the 

 least attempt to escape from the lizards which prey 

 upon them ; they sit still and allow the little reptiles 

 to stroll up to them and swallow them. Fritz Muller 

 laughs at the idea of a pair of these helpless creatures 

 founding a new colony. As well, he thinks, place a 

 couple of new-born babes on an uninhabited island to 

 establish a new nation of human beings ! 



It seems to me that Grassi and Muller are mistaken. 

 The swarming of the white ants must be of some use 



