WHITE ANTS 169 



was in reality merely the queen's abdomen. Affixed 

 to it in front were the body and head. These were 

 those of an ordinary white ant, only slightly larger. 

 The surface of the abdomen had a curious undulating 

 appearance. On examining it through a magnifying- 

 glass I found that this appearance was caused by the 

 alternate contraction and expansion of the different 

 rings of which the abdomen seemed to be composed. 

 The movement went on incessantly without a moment's 

 intermission. Its purpose, I concluded, was to expel 

 the eggs ; but although I watched for some time, I did 

 not perceive that any eggs were ejected. 



When I had finished my observations, I placed the 

 queen again gently on the ground. In a few minutes 

 a number of white ants approached, and commenced 

 to crawl over her. As I could not determine whether 

 their intentions were friendly or hostile, I thought it 

 prudent to brush them away, and also to place the 

 queen in a place of security, for, if attacked, she 

 appeared quite incapable of defence. After some 

 consideration she was deposited in the hollow between 

 two empty combs ; there she lay as in a little cave, 

 and, to make her more secure, the combs were covered 

 with a small mound of fine earth. 



In the afternoon, on my return from office, I went at 

 once to the mound to release the queen, and to restore 

 her to her nest. But when the earth was removed, and 

 the combs separated, to the astonishment of myself and 

 the servants, the queen was found to have disappeared, 

 where and how to the last remained a mystery, for the 

 earth of the mound showed no sign of having been 



