Social Insects. 33 



vided with :i place of shelter or cavity that the mating really 

 takes place, from which time forth she becomes more or less 

 stationary and extremely fecund. She becomes, in short, a true 

 queen, and her escort remains with her and has been called a true 

 kino-; for here again the Termites differ radically from the social 

 Hymenoptera in that coition takes place repeatedly. There are, 

 however, supplemental queens or nymph queens, which seem to 

 be cfipable of laying eggs, probably parthenogenetically, and 

 which never develop their wings. 



The great majority of the neuters are true workers, but a cer- 

 tain proportion of them, about one per cent,, are so-called soldiers, 

 having enormously developed heads and powerful jaws, very 

 much as in the true soldier-ants, and fitted for no other purpose 

 than the defence of the colony. Both kindrf of neuters are per- 

 fectly blind. 



The habits and economy of our Tcrnws fiaripes may be looked 

 upon as typical of the family ; but there are species iu different 

 parts of the world in which (as iu Caloterines) the workers, or (as 

 in Anoplotermes) the soldiers, are absent; others (as in Eutermes) 

 where the soldiers (nasuti) have a bill instead of jaws; others in 

 which the reproductive forms are reduced to the one royal pair; 

 and though the fact has not been absolutely observed, there are 

 probably Termites which produce only males and females, as 

 with ordinary insects, or as in allied families of the Neuroptera. 

 The accompanying diagram will very well illustrate the modes 

 of development and genealogy of the different forms in a typical 

 Termite colony, while some additional sexual forms of less certain 

 character or fixity, have been observed by Grassi in the European 

 Tcntu'x liirifiu/iis, and called complementary kings and ([ueens. In 

 those colonies which have no true royal pair, their place is taken 

 by supplementary royal pairs. (Note 6.) 



Forms III (I Ti'i'iiH's Coldiii/ iiiidcr iioniidl Coiidilioax. 

 1 . Younwst hirvu,'. 



2. ly.irvH' VHitit for re- o. LarviL' lit lor re- 



proilnc'tiun. production. 



4. Liirvii' of 5. Larvjr of iS. N vmplis of Ist 9. Nyuipbs of I'd 



workers. soldiers. iorui. forui. 



(i. Workers. 7. Soldiers. 10. Win^red forms. 



11. True royal paiis. 



