iS) 
_— 
INTERRELATIONS OF INSECTS 3 
occur, and they do little injury as compared with the tropical 
species; though our common Termes flavipes occasionally 
damages woodwork, books, plants, etc., in an extensive way, 
particularly in the Southern states. 
Termitophilism.—Associating with termites are found 
various other arthropods, mostly insects. Their relations to 
the termites are, so far as is known, similar to those described 
beyond between myrmecophilous species and ants. These 
termutophilous forms, however, have received as yet but little 
attention. 
Honey BEE 
For more than three thousand years the honey bee has been 
almost unique among insects as an object of human care and 
study. It was highly prized by the old Greeks and Romans 
(as appears from the writings of Aristotle, 330 B. C., and 
Cato, about 200 B. C.) and actually worshiped as a symbol 
of royalty by the ancient Egyptians, through whose papyri 
and scarabs the honey bee may be traced back to the time of 
ixaineses J, of 1400... °C. 
Though its habits have been somewhat modified by domesti- 
cation, the honey bee, unlike most domesticated animals, is still 
so little dependent upon man that it readily returns to a wild 
life. Under many distinct races, which are due largely to 
human intervention, Apis mellifera is widely distributed over 
the earth. 
Castes.—The species comprises three kinds of individuals: 
queen, drone and worker (Fig. 277). The workers are fe- 
Hie: 277: 
C 
The honey bee, Apis mellifera. A, queen; B, drone; C, worker. Natural size. 
22 
