THE VICTORIAN WHITE ANT. 137 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



THE VICTORIAN WHITE ANT. 



{Termes Australis. Hag en.) 

 Order : Neuroptera. Family : TermitidcB. 



The so-called White Ant, which in reaUty has no affinity 

 whatever to the true ants, the latter belonging to a different 

 order (Hymenoptera), and in many respects also differing 

 in economy from those of the latter insects. 



The White Ant is a small yellowish-white and soft- 

 bodied insect, which, however, to the ordinary observer, is 

 in general appearance not unlike an ant, and may easily 

 be mistaken for such. 



In Victoria these insects are of small size, ranging 

 from 3 to 4 lines in length ; the wings being from about 

 8 to 10 lines, the tropical species being of a much 

 larger size. 



Of these singular insects there are a number of dif- 

 ferent species, as many as 41 having been given in the 

 British Museum catalogue, published in 1852, as being 

 in the collection of that noble institution, and but little 

 difference, comparatively speaking, has been observed 

 regarding their economy. 



The late lamented H. W. Bates, so well known as a 

 naturalist and traveller in the tropics, observes, " that each 

 species of Termites consists of several distinct orders or 

 castes, which live together, and constitute populous organ- 

 ized communities. They inhabit structures known as 

 ' Termitaria,' consisting of mounds or hillocks, some of 

 which in the tropical species are from 5 to 15 feet 

 high, and are formed of particles of earth worked into a 

 material as hard as stone. The ' Termitarium ' has no 

 external aperture for ingress or egress, as far as can be 

 seen, the entrance being placed at some distance, and 

 connected with the central building by means of covered 



