44 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSLCTS. 



She could not cover them all with her body, but 

 she did her best by moving first to one side and 

 then to another. We placed the board gently 



back, and left it for ten minutes ; on returning, all 

 but about a dozen eggs were removed, and no earwig 

 was in sight. We lifted the second board and found 

 the nest with th^e majority of the eggs safe in a new 

 hollow. There were cracks in the soft wood which 

 allowed the mother to quickly remove the eggs 

 farther from the scene of disturbance. This time 

 she began to gather up the eggs and yet seemed 

 loathe to leave the mass of them. She seized one 

 in her mandibles, then dropped it, then picked up 

 another, and in trying to pick up two more dropped 

 all, but she would not leave the bulk of the eggs 

 while we watched. 



Family — White Ants (Tenuifidac'). 



The exact position of the White Ants among the 

 insects is very doubtful. Formerly they were put 

 in with the Neuroptera. More recent writers are 

 inclined to give them a place with the Orthoptera, 

 others again think that they do not sufficiently 

 agree wtih either, and place them in a separate 

 order — the Isoptera. We shall consider them among 

 the Orthoptera, though they differ from the order 

 in many respects, yet resemble it in having biting 

 mouths parts, and gradual development. 



The White Ants are social insects, living in 

 communities composed of different castes — males 

 and females, workers, soldiers and queen. The 

 normal males (Plate 8, Fig 5) and females are 



