Social Irt>iert-s. 71 



a more or less conspicuous loose nest by massing together the exuvi;e of 

 the Apliides and portions of dead leaves, generally aronn<l some twig or 

 branch. (See Pradlcal Eidoviologid, Vol. II, No. 3, Dw. iSlifj, p. 41.) In 

 this case the object is doubtless to prevent the robbing of the coveted sweets 

 by otlier nectar loving species ; while the more elaborate nests of the tropics 

 are for self ])rotection and social economy, the nearest approacli to these m 

 N. A. being made by a Florida ant {Creinasfor/dster hcpiusciila Mayr) •uhich 

 makes large brown chambered nests in long grass, recalling somewhat in 

 colur and character those of Entermes. 



Note 0. — Termite Economy. 



True royal Pairs. — There are many recondite phenomena con- 

 nected with the life-history of the Termites that yet rem;iin unexplained. 

 But all the species annually produce large numl)ers of male and female 

 adults, i. e., winded individuals which are capable, normally, of reproducing. 

 These are recognizable after the iirst moult by the larger thoracic segments, 

 which bear the first indication of wing-pads. During Hight or swarming, 

 and the subsequent walks on the ground, no real union of the sexes has so 

 far been observed. In fact the reprodu(-tive organs are at this ]ieriod not 

 fully developed, and it is not until a i)air have succeeded in estal)lishing 

 themselves amid a certain nuuiber of workers that the sexual oi-gans be- 

 come functional. The wings are thrown ofl' and at tliis st:ige tliese indi- 

 viduals are known as true royal pairs, the wing stumi^s showing in con- 

 tradistinction to the wing-pads of the larva and ]iupa, while their darker 

 color otherwise distinguishes them. They are long lived, coition taking place 

 repeatedly. The male inci'eases but little in size, but the abdomen of 

 the female increases enormously with increasing fecundity. 



Supi'LKMENTARY KixGs andQueens. — The abseuce of a true royal pair 

 by no means impairs tlie vitality and prosperity of a Termite colony; for a 

 certain number of individuals are met with which, in the absence of the 

 true queen may become sexually mature, the female laying fertile eggs, 

 from which, in due course of time, all the forms composing the colony are 

 developed. The true nature of these seconilary or supjilemantary males 

 and females was first fully recognized by Fritz Miiller, and their develop- 

 ment is explained as follows : 



At first indistinguishable from the larva- of individuals which pi-oduce 

 winged specimens, they are, in the nymph or pu])a state, thii-ker and 

 clumsier. The internal sexual organs are moi-e strongly developed, and 

 they have short wing-i)ads placed sideways instead of long and broad wing- 

 pads as in the nymphs which produce the true kings and queens. In sliort, 

 they undergo one moult less, and, as a consequence, do not acquire wings or 

 swarm. Tliey acquii-e sexual maturity later in the senson than the winged 

 individuals, from which they are always distinguished in maturity by the 

 possession of wing-pads instead of the wing stUmps. They are also ligliter 

 in color, the males having smaller ej'es, and the females a broader thorax, 

 whereas in the true royal individuals there is no difi'erenee in this i-esjject. 

 They are not as long-lived, either, as the royal pair, the males dying within 

 a few months and the females probably not surviving more than a year. 



It will be seen from the above stated facts that if through the death of a 

 queen, or in the al^sence of a queen, a colony has not been able to secure 

 another royal jnur from the swarming individuals "nymph-hke males and 

 females, safely kept m the nest " step in as substitutes and save the colony 

 from becoming extinct. Furthermore it has been observed that if, in very 

 small and fragmentary colonies, the supplementary males and females 

 should be absent, the colony may yet be perpetuated by the substitution of 

 larva-like males and females, wliich have been called complementary kings 

 and queens. 



A remarkable observ.ation made by Fritz Miiller deserves mention here. 

 He found in a Eutermi^s colony, in the jiassages of what appeared at iirst to 

 be a true royal cell, not less than 31 supplementary females and among 



