SOO HABITS AND INSTINCTS OF ANIMALS. CHAP. X. 



having the rudiments of wings : this great similarity 

 induced Smeathman (according to the opinion of 

 Latreille), erroneously,, to call them neuters. Thirdly, 

 rank the true neuters, or the soldiers : this warlike 

 race are the guardians of the community : they are in 

 the proportion of about one to every hundred labourers ; 

 and are at once distinguished by the enormous size of 

 their heads, armed with long and sharp jaws. Lastly, 

 come the males and females ; which are the insects 

 arrived at their perfect state, and capable of producing 

 their kind. As there is but one of each in every sepa- 

 rate community, they may more properly be termed 

 the king and queen of this insect population ; for, like 

 the sovereigns of mightier kingdoms, they are exempt 

 from all those labours and duties which belong to their 

 subjects. From the remarks of Mr. Smeathman, it 

 would seem that the circumstances attending the first 

 establishment of a colony of white ants in Africa, is 

 much the same as those in the tropics of America ; we 

 shall therefore give the result of our own observations. 

 79 The winter or rainy season of Brazil ge- 



nerally begins early in February, at which 

 time the Termites become perfect insects, 

 /" j^jliX furnished with four long narrow wings, 



7vlT\ ^^ e( * on eac ^ ot ^ er (fiff* 79- X an( * emer g e 

 //ill from their retreats in countless myriads. 

 / i I > We a i wa y s observed they selected a rainy 

 day for their transformation ; and although 

 they began to mount from the earth at 

 about one o'clock in the day, they con- 

 tinued to increase every hour, thousands 

 on thousands, darkening the air, and flying 

 into the houses. Meantime, all the species 

 of insectivorous birds, particularly the tyrant flycatchers 

 (TyrannincB Sw.), as if by an instinctive knowledge, 

 assemble round those spots from whence the insects 

 emerge, and commence a simultaneous attack upon 

 them in all directions. Poultry join in the destruction ; 

 lizards run about after the hundreds which fall to the 



