THE TERMES LUCIFUGUM. 349 



others — and these are the most numerous — do not appear to 

 possess either remarkable talents or instincts, but they are inte- 

 resting, in consequence of their leading such very different lives 

 in the larva and adult stages. ^ One of the most interesting families 

 — not only of this order but of the whole class of insects — is that of 

 the White Ant, the Termitidce. These insects are gregarious, and 

 form numerous societies, in which may be found males and females, 

 several kinds of neuters, and active larvae and nymphs. They 

 build very large dwellings, containing multitudes of chambers and 

 galleries, and they always work in the dark. If they wish to 

 move from one locality to another, they can construct first-rate 

 tunnels ; and their habits, especially those of construction, have 

 caused them to be compared with the true ants ; and they are 

 well known in all tropical climates, where they commit frightful 

 damage, as white ants. The males and females of Termes hici- 

 fuguin have large wings, the cross or transverse nervures of which 

 can hardly be seen, and they are rudimentary; their heads are 

 large and strong, and there are three ocelli placed between the 

 larger pair of eyes. The neuters, which never have wings, are 

 of two kinds — first, the workers, with a round head and short 

 mandibles, and second, the soldiers, with long heads and large 

 and strong jaws. 



M. Lespes has discovered that there exist in the dwellings of 

 Termes lucifugwn in France, besides the larvae of the neuters and 

 of the males and females, and besides the neuters, workmen, and 

 soldiers, two sorts of nymphs, some very small, with rudiments of 

 very short wings, and others larger, with longer wings ; and even — 

 and this is a very inexplicable fact — two kinds of males and females, 

 one small, and appearing in May, and the other, much larger, not 

 being observable till the month of August. M. Lespes calls the 

 first little kings and little queens ; and the second, the great kings 

 and great queens. When the eggs are about to be laid, ordinarily 

 a single couple is found in the interior of the nest, and the in- 

 dividuals composing it have lost their wings, and indeed they 

 always appear to fall off at this time. The bodies of the great 

 females are often distended with eggs. 



It is of course in hot climates that the Termites attain their 

 greatest size and numbers. It is stated that a third of the flat 



