NEUROPTERA. — TERMITIDZE. 13 
gin rounded ; the labium itself is divided at the apex into four nearly 
equal conical lobes; and the labial palpi are filiform and 3-jointed. 
Within the mouth, attached to the inner base of the labrum, arises 
a large coriaceous lebe (fig. 58.7. 0. and 58.8. detached), somewhat 
emarginate in front, and which is the lingua, here as fully developed as 
in the saltatorial Orthoptera and Libellulidz. 
The three thoracic segments are distinct; the prothorax of mo- 
derate size, shield-like, and either transversely quadrate or semicircular, 
with the anterior margin straight, and the posterior rounded; the 
meso- and meta-thorax are of nearly equal size ; the wings are nearly 
twice as long as the body, narrow, and of equal size, they are not so 
hyaline as in the majority of the insects of this order; the costal and 
subcostal nerves are very robust, but all the other nerves are but 
slightly visible; when at rest they are carried flat upon the back ; the 
legs are rather short, slender, and simple; the tibiz are cylindrical, 
with two or three spurs; the tarsi ( fig. 58. 10.) are 4-jointed, the 
three basal joints being very short and hairy beneath; the abdomen 
is flattened, with transverse segments, and terminated at the sides by 
two minute conical 2-jointed styles (jfig.58.11. The figures 58. 1—11. 
are taken from the large Brazilian species figured.) 
With the exception of two or three small species of this family (T. 
lucifugus Rossi, T. flavicollis Fab., and T. flavipes Kollar in Isis, 1833), 
these insects are chiefly confined to the tropics, where the immense- 
numbers of which their communities consist, together with their devas- 
tating powers, render them the most absolute pests of mankind. They 
attack furniture, wood-work, and merchandise of every kind ; and their 
instinctive powers are so great, that every particle of furniture in a 
house may be destroyed without their presence being even suspected, 
as they form their burrows under ground, and make their places of 
exit immediately beneath the legs of tables, &c., of which they com- 
pletely eat away the interior, leaving only a thin outer shell, which 
crumbles to dust on being moved. The nests of these insects are of 
avery large size, and varied in form according tothe species. That 
of T. fatale Linn. (Bellicosus Smeathm.) is sometimes not less than 
ten or twelve feet high, of a conical form, with numerous conical 
turrets on its sides; it is formed of clay, and, being soon coated with 
grass, looks like a haycock. The strength of these nests is so great 
that, when raised to little more than half their height, it is the practice 
for the wild bulls to mount upon them as sentinels, whilst the rest of the 
