788 



the mouth of t\ie Orthoptera) ; the ocelli are three in 

 number, placed on the forehead, the anterior one being 

 not so distinct as the others; the wings are but slightly 

 transparent and coloured, with the anterior margins 

 incrassated, and the nerves very distinct, and not 

 forming the beautiful net-work observed in other 

 tribes of neuropterous insects ; the abdomen is ter- 

 minated by two minute conical two-jointed styles, 

 and the! legs are of moderate length and slender. 



These insects, with the exception of one or two small 

 species, are strangers to Europe, and most fortunate 

 is it that such is the case, for their devastating powers, 

 in the torrid zone, is immense ; furniture, wood-work, 

 and merchandise of all kinds, is attacked, and in a 

 very short space of time entirely destroyed ; nothing, 

 in fact, escapes their destructive energies except 

 metal and stone. Residing ordinarily on the ground, 

 they form their burrows with such care and precision 

 that they make a place of exit just beneath the feet 

 of chairs, tables, &c., where these articles are suffered 

 to remain stationary for any length of time; and then 

 by working upwards they completely excavate the 

 piece of furniture, leaving only the external pellicle. 

 All this is effected without their presence being sus- 

 pected, or in any manner indicated. In a very short 

 time the supports of the piece of furniture are ren- 

 dered so weak that it tumbles to pieces, crumbling to 

 dust at the touch. 



The African species of this genus have long 

 attracted the attention of travellers, on account of 

 the size and remarkable construction of their nests, 

 but it was reserved to Smeathman to give the most 

 complete and satisfactory account of their singular 

 economy and habitations, and which was published 

 by him in the Philosophical Transactions for the 

 year 1781. 



These nests may be said to surpass those of bees, 

 wasps, beavers, and other animals, in the same pro- 

 portion as the habitations of the most polished Eu- 

 ropean nation excel the rude huts of the inhabitants 

 of those countries where the termites abound; whilst, 

 in regard to their size, it is certain that if the dwell- 

 ings of mankind were of the ordinary size of the 

 Egyptian pyramids, they would sink in comparison 

 with the labours of these insects. The chief work of 

 the construction of the nests of the white ants falls 

 upon a distinct class of labourers, somewhat analo- 

 gous in this respect to the workers of the hive, but 

 these labourers are apterous and in the state of larvae, 

 not exceeding a quarter of an inch, but the structures 

 which they erect are ten or twelve feet above the 

 surface of the earth. Supposing a man's ordinary 

 height to be six feet, Mr. Smeathman calculates that 

 the building of these insects may be considered, rela- 

 tive to their size and that of man's, as being raised 

 to near four times the height of the largest of the 

 Egyptian pyramid?, that is, corresponding with con- 

 siderably more than half a mile ! With respect to 

 their interior construction, and the arrangement of 

 the different parts of the building, they do not fall 

 short of any human construction. 



It will ba, necessary, however, before giving an 

 account of the internal parts of the nest, to describe 

 the different members of which the community is 

 composed. Smeathman had described these different 

 kinds of individuals; but it is to Latreille that we are 

 indebted for a more precise account, this'author hav- 

 ing minutely investigated the economy of a species 

 wkich inhabits jthe south of France, and of which 



T E R M I T I D JE. 



the writer hereof saw a nest, with the inhabitants in 

 full activity, in the city of Berlin, in the possession 

 of Dr. Burmeister, (T. lucifugum). The community at 

 large surpasses all calculation, far exceeding those 

 of the ants or the bees. 



1 Worker. 



The workers or labourers above mentioned nearly 

 resemble the perfect insects, of which, in their ordinary 

 winged state, a description has already been given ; 

 they are, however, smaller, with the body soft, and 

 destitute of wings ; the head is also larger, but is not 

 apparently furnished with the least trace of eyes, a 

 most remarkable] circumstance, when the labour of 

 this class of the inhabitants is taken into consideration. 

 It is the duty of these insects to construct the nest, 

 which is composed of agglutinated sand and earth, of 

 varied form, being conical, turreted, cylindrical, &c.; 

 to form roads, or rather covered-ways, diverging in 

 all directions from the nest, and leading 'to every 

 object of plunder within their reach; to attend at the 

 proper time to the duties of the royal couple, and to 

 take care of the eggs. The workers, we have said, 

 are larvte. 



The pupae first described by, Latreille are very much 

 like the larva), but they have rudiments of the four 

 wings visible. In the nest of a small African species 

 examined by the writer hereof, the pupae so much 

 resembled winged frog-hoppers (Tcttigonia spumana), 

 that several entomologists were completely deceived 

 at first sight on inspecting them. It has not been 

 stated what share of labour falls to these pupae. 



The perfect insects differ from the workers in being 

 furnished with wings, and in having the head rather 

 smaller, although the general size is larger ; their 

 general appearance is indeed so unlike that of the 

 workers that it is not surprising that Linnseus should 

 have introduced them into different orders, although, 

 if the structure of the mouth had been examined, their 

 relationship would have been discovered. They are 

 not to be discovered in the nest till just before the 

 commencement of the rainy season, when they undergo 

 their last change, preparatory to the formation of new 

 colonies. There is a very great analogy in respect 

 to the impregnation and subsequent treatment of 

 these insects and the ants and bees, especially the 

 former of these industrious tribes ; like them the 

 winged termites quit the nest soon after they have 

 attained the perfect state, swarming in prodigious 

 numbers during the evening or night, according to 

 Latreille, during which period we may from analogy 

 conclude that pairing takes place, although, according 

 to Smeathman, this takes place afterwards. On 

 reaching the ground again the wings of the termites 

 fall off, as is also the case in the female ants, and they 

 now become the prey of innumerable birds, reptiles, 

 and insects; so that probably but very few pairs, out 

 of the countless myriads, of which the swarm had 

 consisted, contrive to escape, so as to lay the foun- 



