96 Mr. T. S. Savage on the Termitidae of West Africa. 



pupae to be equally active with their respective larvae, which is 

 not the case ; they are exceedingly delicate and sluggish. 



Of these several orders, the labourers are by far the most nu- 

 merous. They seem to be susceptible of two divisions — larger 

 and smaller labourers. The latter exceed the former in numbers, 

 and are found chiefly in the domicile. The work about the hill, 

 such as constructing, repairing, bearing away the. eggs from the 

 maternal department, &c., seems to be done by them. Of the 

 larger size, some few are found in the hill, but they exist in 

 greater numbers in the covered ways, about and in the objects 

 of plunder. The mandibles of this division are very hard and 

 strong, and admirably adapted to the performance of what I sup- 

 pose to be their part in the community, which is the comminu- 

 ting of the diff'erent kinds of wood on which they prey, and the 

 reducing of the clay from which their hills are made to a port- 

 able condition. A like division of labour I have noticed among 

 the Driver Ants of Africa {Anomma arcens and A. rubella). 

 Messrs. Kirby and Spence are incorrect w^hen they say (Intro- 

 duct, vol. ii. pp. 40, 41) that '^ they carry in their mouths a 

 mass of mortar half as big as their bodies, ready tempered, made 

 of the finer parts oi gravel, which, worked up to a proper con- 

 sistence, hardens to a substance resembling stone, of which their 

 nests are constructed." The amount each insect carries at a 

 time is so small as to be hardly perceptible to the naked eye. 

 When the work is done it presents a minutely granulated appear- 

 ance, like that of the " nurseries.^^ Nor is it already " tempered" 

 ready to be laid. The insect, when it arrives at the place of de- 

 posit, stops for an instant, and retaining its hold on the piece of 

 clay, undergoes a slight tremulous movement, more perhaps like 

 the spasmodic action of vomiting, when a fluid being seen to be 

 excreted from the mouth over it, the clay is deposited. This cor- 

 rects the supposition of Smeathman, that the cementing medium 

 was gum obtained from the trees on which they preyed. The 

 outer surface of the work when recent presents a red, moist, 

 granulated appearance, but when acted on by the sun and atmo- 

 sphere it approaches a dull white or yellow, and is highly indu- 

 rated, more so than simple clay dried in the sun can be. It 

 however falls far short of the hardness of stone ; as the hill is 

 penetrated, the clay becomes softer until the interior is found to 

 be so plastic that it can be made into balls under the pressure of 

 the hand. The young of this order are seen of all sizes ; the 

 nympJice of Latrcille differing from the others apparently in no 

 respect but that of their rudimentary wings. 



Soldiers. — Of this order there seems to be ground for two 

 divisions also, larger and smaller. 



When a breach is made in the hill, the smaller soldiers are 



