The Termites, or White Ants 



101 



characters and the composition of the termite communities. The body 

 is always soft, and usually milky-whitish in color, though sometimes light 

 or dark brown. It is plump, and slightly broader than thick. The abdo- 

 men is joined broadly to the thorax, not by a little stem or peduncle as in 

 the ants, with which insects the name "white 

 ants" (unfortunately too long and widely 

 used to be done away with) confuses the 

 termites in the popular mind. The termites 

 not only are not ants, but are neither nearly 

 related to them nor of similar structure. 

 The only resemblances between the two forms 

 exist in the communal life and in the com- 

 position of the community by different kinds 

 of individuals. The termites are either blind 

 or have only simple eyes, have slender an- 

 tenna? which look as if made up of tiny beads 

 strung a-row, and have biting mouth-parts 

 with strong jaws. They live in small or large 

 communities, the individuals in any one of 

 which, although belonging to the same species, 

 being of from three to eight different kinds 

 or castes. That is, each community is com- 

 posed of winged and wingless individuals, 

 the winged being males and females, while 

 the wingless include immature individuals, 

 sexually incomplete workers and soldiers, 

 and also so-called complemental males and 

 females which are individuals able to help 

 in the increase of the community. In some 

 species there are no workers, while in others 

 the workers may be of two kinds. The 

 soldiers differ from all the others in he 

 extraordinary development of their jaws 

 which are long and scissor-like; their heads 

 are also much enlarged and strongly chitin- 

 ized. The food of all consists mainly of 

 dead wood, and of curious pellets excreted 

 from the intestine and called "proctodeal 



food." In addition some species attack live wood and even soft plants, 

 and cloth, books, papers, etc., suffer from termite ravages. The serious 

 nature of their attacks on wood will be referred to later. 



The development of the termites is apparently simple; the wingless 



FIG. 133. Termite shed on 

 cocoanut-palm in Samoa. From 

 the shed note numerous tunnels 

 leading down to the ground, in 

 which is the main nest of the 

 community; a few tunnels (only 

 one visible in the picture) lead 

 up the trunk of the tree. (Pho- 

 tograph by the author.) 



