304 A BOOK OF INSECTS 



thick that she was pressed tightly between the floor and 

 the ceiling. She was motionless, except for a series of 

 waves moving rearward along her swollen abdomen. By 

 her side stood the king, a dwarf compared with his mate, 

 in a very remarkable posture, with his long legs widely 

 separated, his head down, and his tailed cocked upward. 

 Now and then he pressed against his consort's side or 

 tried to crawl under her. The royal pair were surrounded 

 by hundreds of small workers, some running round as if 

 in a circus, others reaching out from floor and ceiling to 

 brush and lick the king and queen. The queen's head, 

 thorax, and legs were covered with little workers, busily 

 grooming and feeding her. At the opposite end of her 

 body the scene was still livelier. At intervals of from 

 one to three seconds a tiny, long-oval egg issued from 

 the tip of the abdomen and was immediately seized by a 

 worker, cleaned, and carried away to one of the surround- 

 ing egg-chambers. These operations were performed with 

 a regularity that suggested the work of a factory. When 

 we consider that a termite queen probably lives ten years 

 or longer, and devotes at least half her life to egg-laying, 

 we can form some idea of her prodigious fertility and of 

 the number of her subjects." 



The numerous castes which make up a termite com- 

 munity are indistinguishable when they first leave the 

 egg. Moreover, the workers and soldiers are not all 

 imperfectly developed females, as is the case with social 

 Hymenopterous insects, but comprise individuals of both 

 sexes. Termites are able to modify, check, or accelerate 

 the development of their young. Probably this power 

 consists mainly in a judicious administration of food ; but 

 it has still to be shown that these amazing insects do not 

 practise a mysterious system of massage or surgery. It 

 is at least probable that young individuals which promise 



