ENTOMOLOGY 347 



hours, whether as larvae in the galleries of infested roots, or as 

 adults moving on or hiding among them; The conditions under 

 which these insects may occur are so varied that it is almost im- 

 possible to give any universally applicable suggestions. Each case 

 must be dealt with according to its own peculiar features, and 

 the combination of cleanliness, gasoline and bisulphide of carbon 

 will usually serve to give relief. 



Termites, or White Ants. They usually attract attention in 

 early spring, when swarms of dark brown or blackish, flattened ant- 

 like creatures may be noticed fluttering about with large frail wings, 

 and the center of the swarm may be a fence-post, an old board or 

 even a floor beam or studding. These flights usually occur quite 

 early in the day and by noon little or nothing remains of the swarms. 

 If, when the swarms are noticed and the center is discovered, close 

 examination be made, the insects may usually be discovered emerg- 

 ing from a hole or crevice in the wood, and if the log, post or board 

 be further examined it will usually be found eaten out or burrowed 

 and filled with large numbers of yellowish-white, flattened, wingless 

 creatures, about one-quarter of an inch in length, with soft, bluntly 

 terminated bodies and large heads. These are the real white ants 

 or termites, the brown, flying forms being the mature sexed individ- 

 uals which are intended to form new colonies. If we gather a lot 

 of these white creatures, we will note that some of them have much 

 larger heads and long, pointed, brown mandibles. These are sol- 

 diers, the others being the workers or chief inhabitants of the colony. 



Termites are not true ants at all, but have a somewhat similar 

 social organization, and the common name is expressive enough to 

 be recognized in general use. A colony of termites consists mainly 

 of workers, which are dwarfed males and females that never become 

 able to reproduce, that never become winged and that are blind, 

 never coming voluntarily into the light of day. A small percentage 

 are soldiers, whose function is supposed to be the protection of the 

 colony, and these are also blind, sexually immature individuals that 

 .never become winged. There is a female or queen at the head of 

 each of these colonies, whose sole business it is to produce eggs, and 

 some of these eggs annually produce a swarm of fully developed 

 males and females that in early spring leave the nest in a body, 

 never to return. These insects are wood-feeders, and, working as 

 they do, ever in concealment, they may cause a great deal of mis- 

 chief before their presence is discovered. They feed only in wood, 

 and usually in somewhat damp wood or at least in damp surround- 

 ings, but sometimes they carry their destructive work even into dry 

 timber at a long distance from the center of the colony, ever burrow- 

 ing under cover and never making openings to the light except as 

 exit for swarms. When once the woodwork of a building becomes 

 infested they are hard to get rid of, because of the difficulty of 

 locating the source from which they come. This may be and often 

 is an old stump outside of the infested building, or a partly buried 

 beam, sleeper or bedplate. If the building is set on posts, these are 

 likely to be the seat of the colony, which is never located in the' 



