TERMITES. 54! 



tliat the sexual individuals, during the latter stages of their 

 growth, gradually acquire eyes and wings. They belong, 

 indeed, to two very dissimilar orders of insects. The ant- 

 bear, however, never troubles himself about this matter ; but, 

 scraping away with his powerful claws, soon breaks open the 

 citadel which the industrious insects have formed during days 

 of unremitting toil. 



The mounds of the termites differ in composition. Some, 

 consisting of earth, are worked into a substance as hard as 

 stone. The coloured lines on the ground mark the covered 

 ways which lead from the places where the insects obtain 

 their food, or the materials for their habitations. The mounds 

 exhibit no openings for egress or ingress. They are often 

 formed by several distinct species of termites, each of which 

 keeps to its own portion of the mounds, and uses different 

 materials. Within the fortress exist a vast number of cham- 

 bers, with galleries connecting them, composed sometimes of 

 particles of earth, and at others of vegetable matter, cemented 

 by the saliva of the insects. As they live on dry food, and 

 in regions where no water is found, it is supposed that they 

 may possess the power of combining, by vital force, the oxy- 

 gen and hydrogen of their vegetable food, and thus form 

 water. This supposition, if correct, accounts for the large 

 amount of liquid which they employ in the construction of 

 their cells. 



The inhabitants of these structures consist of differently 

 formed insects, employed in various distinct occupations. The 

 most numerous are the labourers, who have to toil for the 

 benefit of the community. They are sexless and blind ; yet, 

 without the power of sight, they are ceaselessly employed 

 in the construction of these curious mounds, or in taking care 



