346 



INSECTA. 



Termites is said to consist of five different classes: namely, winged 

 males and females (fig. 174, A) ; apterous neuters, or soldiers, which 

 have large heads furnished with strong projecting mandibles (B) ; un- 

 winged pupaB, having a smaller head, and the rudiments of wings only 

 (c) ; and, lastly, of similarly-formed larvce, or workers (D), differing from 

 the pupae only in wanting the rudiments of wings. The following is a 

 brief history of the establishment and growth of a colony of these insects, 



Fig. 174. 



Colony of Termite Ants. A, Winged male. B, Soldier. C, Wingless pupa. D, Workers. 

 E, Queen Termite enormously distended with eggs. 



as narrated by Burmeister *. At the termination of the hot season, the 

 young males and females disclosed in a nest quit it, and appear upon the 

 surface of the earth, where they swarm in innumerable hosts, and pair. 

 The busied workers then convey a chosen male and a female back into 

 the dwelling, and imprison them in the central royal cell, the entrances 

 to which they decrease and guard : through these apertures the im- 

 prisoned pair then receive the nutriment they require. The male now, 



* Manual of Entomology, p. 535. 



