142 



SOME SOUTH INDIAN INSECTS, ETC. [CHAP. XIV. 



a " neoteinic " queen. In the case of the Indian species of Termites, 

 however, there is no evidence that this can be done : in fact, there 

 is a considerable balance of evidence against this and. in the case 



of some Termites at least (Eutermes), it has been shown that the 

 caste of the young individual, i.e., whether it is to be a soldier 

 or a worker, is already fixed before its emergence from the egg, 

 although this does not necessarily prove that, by special feeding 

 or other means, the ultimate form cannot be modified. Still, in the 

 case of all ground-living species of Indian Termites, it is fairly sate 

 to assume in practical work that the queen of a nest, once removed, 

 cannot be replaced and that a colons deprived of its queen will 

 dwindle and die out. In this connection it must be noted that 

 nests, and especially mounds, often contain two or more species of 

 Termites living in close contiguity and care must betaken to see 

 that a queen which may be found and destroyed, belongs to the 

 species which it is required to check. 



I ig. lit. -Soldier of Odontotermes obesus. (Micro photo bj W. II. Harrison 

 from a specimen determined bj Professor N, Holm 



In the case of damage bj Termites, therefore, the first requisite 

 is a definite knowledge of the species concerned. This known, 

 endeavour must be made to locate its nest and to destroy this. In 

 ,.,,. ,,i nests in beams or trees it maj be possible to inject 

 poisonous gases with the help of a pumping machine and this may 

 also be used in the case of mounds or nests in the ground where 



