1414 THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE 



active, hexapod little creatures, and do not vary 

 from one another in appearance so much, for in- 

 stance, as those of the Coleoptera, but their pupae 

 differ essentially; some groups remaining active 

 throughout life, like the Orthoptera; while a second 

 division have quiescent pupae, which, however, in 

 some cases, acquire more or less power of locomo- 

 tion shortly before they assume the mature state; 

 thus that of Raphidia, though motionless at first, at 

 length acquires strength enough to walk, even while 

 still inclosed in the pupa skin, which is very thin. 



One of the most remarkable families belonging to 

 this order is that of the Termites, or so-called white 

 ants. They abound in the tropics, where they are a 

 perfect pest, and a serious impediment to human 

 development. Their colonies are extremely numer- 

 ous, and they attack woodwork and furniture of all 

 kinds, generally working from within, so that their 

 presence is often unsuspected until it is suddenly 

 found that they have completely eaten away the in- 

 terior of some post or table, leaving nothing but a 

 thin outer shell. Their nests, which are made of 

 earth, are sometimes ten or twelve feet high, and 

 strong enough to bear a man. One species, Termes 

 lucifugus, is found in the south of France, where it 

 has been carefully studied by Latreille. He found 

 in these communities five kinds of individuals (i) 

 males; (2) females, which grow to a very large size, 

 their bodies being distended with eggs, of which they 

 sometimes lay as many as 80,000 in a day; (3) a 

 form described by some observers as pupae, but by 

 others as neuters. These differ very much from the 



