[ 369 ] 



XVIII. Characters of Embia, a Genus of Insects allied to the JVhite Ants 

 (Termites) ; ivith Descriptions of the Species of ivhich it is composed. By 

 J. O. Westwood, Esq., F.L.S. 



Read March 4th, 1834. 



The extraordinary oeconomy and destructive habits of the White Ants have 

 attracted so great a share of the attention of naturalists, that every object 

 with which they are allied is necessarily rendered worthy of observation. I 

 need therefore offer but little apology for submitting to the Linnean Society the 

 following descriptions of several singular insects possessing a very close affinity 

 with the Termites, feeling convinced that this circumstance alone would ren- 

 der my paper acceptable, although unaccompanied (as our descriptions of 

 exotic insects are unfortunately too often compelled to be) by any account of 

 their habits and modus vivendi : moreover, the extreme rarity of the insects in 

 question may be urged in support of their interest, since it is presumed that 

 of the three exotic species of which the genus Embia is now composed a 

 single specimen only of each has hitherto come under the observation of ento- 

 mologists. Another interesting peculiarity arises from the fact that each of 

 these three insects is from a different quarter of the globe, and is distinguished 

 by characters of a higher rank than mere specific distinction, whence I have 

 been under the necessity of considering each as a distinct subgenus. The 

 singular form of the anterior tarsi and the white lines on the wings of all the 

 species are also worthy of attention. 



In the Annulose portion of the great national French work on Egypt, 

 which, unfortunately for science, from the overwhelming number of micro- 

 scopic observations therein exhibited, deprived the unfortunate Savigny of 

 sight, we find two beautiful figures, accompanied by elaborate details of an 

 insect bearing considerable resemblance to the Termes. In consequence, how- 

 ever, of the circumstances connected with the publication of the Entomological 



