Chap. I. WHITE AXTS. 65 



which attach themselves to the long worm-like tongue 

 of this animal, and the workers, on whom the prospe- 

 rity of the young brood immediately depends, are left 

 for the most part unharmed. I always found, on 

 thrusting my finger into a mixed crowd of Termites, 

 that the soldiers only fastened upon it. Thus the 

 fighting caste do in the end serve to protect the species 

 by sacrificing themselves for its good. 



A family of Termites consists of workers as the 

 majority, of soldiers, and of the King and Queen. These 

 are the constant occupants of a completed Termitarium. 

 The royal couple are the father and mother of the 

 colony, and are always kept together closely guarded by 

 a detachment of workers in a large chamber in the very 

 heart of the hive, surrounded by much stronger walls 

 than the other cells. They are wingless and both im- 

 mensely larger than the workers and soldiers. The 

 Queen, when in her chamber, is always found in a 

 gravid condition, her abdomen enormously distended 

 with eggs, which, as fast as they come forth, are con- 

 veyed by a relay of workers in their mouths from the 

 royal chamber to the minor cells dispersed throughout the 

 hive. The other members of a Termes family are the 

 winged individuals : these make their appearance only 

 at a certain time of the year, generally in the beginning 

 of the rainy season. It has puzzled naturalists to make 

 out the relationship between the winged Termites and 

 the wingless King and Queen. It has also generally 

 been thought that the soldiers and workers are the 

 larvse of the others ; an excusable mistake, seeing 

 that they much resemble larvae. I satisfied myself, 



VOL. II. F 



