WHITE ANT. 471 



SECTION XVI. 



White Ant. 



Termes pulsatorius. Termes bellicosus. Linn. 



Of the termes, or white ant genus, there are ten species, of 

 which some are much smaller, and others larger. The most com- 

 mon to our own country, and indeed to Europe at large, is the 

 termes pulsatorius of Linnaeus, a diminutive insect, of a whitish 

 colour; and which, from its general resemblance to the insects of 

 that genus, has by Derham and some other naturalists been dis- 

 tinguished by the title of pediculus pulsatorius. It is very fre- 

 quent, during the summer months, in houses, particularly where 

 the wainscot is in any degree decayed, and is remarkable for 

 causing a long-continued sound, exactly resembling the ticking of 

 a watch. It is a very common insect in collections of dried 

 plants, &c. which it often injures greatly. It is of so tender a 

 frame as to be easily destroyed by the slightest pressure; and is an 

 animal of very quick motion. When magnified, the head appears 

 large ; the eyes remarkably conspicuous, of a most beautiful gold, 

 colour, and divided, like those of most other insects, into innumer- 

 able hexagonal convexities; the antennae long and setaceous ; the 

 palpi or feelers two in number, of moderate length, and terminat- 

 ing in a large club-shaped tip ; the thorax rather narrow, and the 

 abdomen obtusely oval ; the thighs or first joints of the legs thick, 

 the remaining ones slender, and the feet furnished with very small 

 claws : the whole animal is beset with small scattered hairs. 

 According to the observations of the celebrated Derham, this 

 insect, at its first hatching from the egg, which is white, oval, 

 and extremely small, bears a complete resemblance to a common 

 mite, being furnished with eight legs, and beset with long hairs. 

 After a certain time, it casts its skin, and appears in the very dif- 

 ferent form above-described. Some individuals of this species be. 

 come winged when arrived at their full growth ; the wings, which 

 are four in number, being very large, of a slightly iridescent 

 appearance, and variegated with blackish and brown clouds or 

 spots. It is in the beginning of July that this change takes place, 



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