Common Insect Enemies 123 



that have remained empty for many years suddenly acquire 

 tenants. Sleeping in some of these houses is probably better 

 than sleeping on park benches, for at least one has a roof over 

 his head, even though it may permit the passage of copious 

 quantities of rain. But although there may be a roof, there 

 probably won't be much of a foundation, for although the 

 house may not have provided shelter for humans for many 

 years, it probably has been a source of food for many genera- 

 tions of termites. 



Termites, or white ants, like the true ants, are highly 

 developed social inseas. Each colony has its queen and, 

 more surprising, it also has a king. Unlike the true ants, 

 the male termite survives the nuptial night and continues to 

 live in harmony with his mate, constantly displaying the af- 

 f eaions that every wife has a right to expea from her spouse. 

 But in addition to the royal family, there are the workers, 

 usually sexually undeveloped, and a special caste of profes- 

 sional soldiers with enormous heads and mandibles. Al- 

 though it is not nice to make slighting remarks about the 

 military caste, the evidence is that the soldier termites don't 

 do a very good job of protecting the colony. Like the mili- 

 tary castes of many of our nations, the termite soldiers have, 

 apparently, assumed a position of importance all out of pro- 

 portion to their true value. 



The common termites make their homes in the ground 

 and send out tunnels to building foundations, wooden floors, 

 and other sources of cellulose, which they are able to digest 

 by means of certain bacteria in their intestinal traas. Re- 

 gardless of how much we dislike these destroyers of our 

 homes, we must admit that they are good engineers. They 

 always leave enough of a timber to prevent it from collapsing 

 on them. Thus, at first glance the foundation of your pro- 



