62 SANTAREM. Chap. I. 



ference being the gradual acquisition of eyes and wings 

 in the sexual individuals during the later stages of 

 growth. Termites and true ants, in fact, belong to two 

 widely dissimilar orders of insects, and the analogy 

 between them is only a general one of habits. The mode 

 of growth of Termites and the active condition of their 

 younger stages (larva and pupa) make the constitution 

 of their communities much more difficult of compre- 

 hension than that of ants ; hence how many castes 

 existed, and what sort of individuals they were com- 

 posed of, if not males and females, have always been 

 puzzles to naturalists in the absence of direct obser- 

 vation. 



What a strange spectacle is offered to us in the 

 organisation of these insect communities ! Nothing 

 analogous occurs amongst the higher animals. Social 

 instincts exist in many species of mammals and birds, 

 where numerous individuals unite to build common 

 habitations, as we see in the case of weaver-birds and 

 beavers ; but the principle of division of labour, the set- 

 ting apart of classes of individuals for certain employ- 

 ments, occurs only in human societies in an advanced 

 state of civilisation. In all the higher animals there 

 are only two orders of individuals as far as bodily 

 structure is concerned, namely, males and females. 

 The wonderful part in the history of the Termites is, 

 that not only is there a rigid division of labour, but 

 nature has given to each class a structure of body 

 adapting it to the kind of labour it has to perform. 

 The males and females form a class apart ; they do no 

 kind of work, but in the course of growth acquire 



