92 



APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY 



which when at rest are laid flat upon the back. Near the base of each 

 wing is a line marking where it will easily break off. The part between 

 this point and the body is horny, while the remainder is at most only 

 somewhat leathery. At the end of the abdomen is a pair of short cerci. 

 Development of the young is by an incomplete metamorphosis. 



The group may accordingly be characterized as: 



Insects living in colonies and of several castes, of which only the kings 

 and queens ever have wings. These are four in number, long, more or less 

 leathery, narrow, similar, laid flat on the hack when 7iot in use, and easily 

 broken off near their bases. The bodies of the insects are soft, and usually 

 whitish in color. The abdomen has a pair of cerci at its hinder end. Mouth 

 parts for chewing. The fnetamorphosis is incomplete. 



The food of Termites is mainly dead wood, though living trees and 

 other plants sometimes suffer from their attacks. Their nests in the 

 tropics are made of earth, wood 

 which has been chewed up, and 

 their excrement. They are often 

 prominent objects, sometimes twenty 



Fig. 75. Fig. 70. 



Fig. 75. — Adult male of a tropical Termite {Termes spi/io.sw.s Latr.) about half natural 

 size. (After Desneux.) 



Fig. 76. — Laying queen of a tropical Termite {Termes gilvus Hag.). Reduced nearly 

 one-half. {From Desneux.) 



feet or more in height, and seem to vary in form to some extent ac- 

 cording to the species. 



Termites "swarm" at some seasons, enormous numbers of winged 

 kings (Fig. 75) and queens leaving their nest at about the same time and 

 flying off. After alighting the wings are broken off and each pair of 

 individuals turns its attention to the establishment of a new colony. 

 In the tropical species which form large nests and have thousands of 

 individuals in a colony, the abdomen of the queen gradually becomes 

 distended by the developing eggs until this part of the body may become 

 several inches long and an inch or more in diameter, so that the insect is 

 entirely helpless and unable to move (Fig. 76). The workers which are 

 generally blind, provide for the queen, carry away the eggs, feed and 

 care for the young, construct the nest, and indeed do all the work of the 

 colony. The soldiers are generally regarded as a caste produced for the 



