ANNULOSA: INSECTA. 245 



communities, as do the true Ants. They differ, however, 

 from the Ants in the fact that the workers are individuals 

 of no fully developed sex, whereas amongst the latter they are 

 undeveloped females. Further, the neuters of the Termites 

 are always composed of two distinct classes or " castes " the 

 workers and the soldiers. Lastly, the Ants undergo a quiescent 

 pupa-stage, whereas the young Termites on their emergence 

 from the egg do not differ from the adult in any respect except 

 in size. 



Each species of Termites consists of several distinct orders 

 or castes, which live together, and constitute populous, or- 

 ganised communities. They inhabit structures known as 

 " Termitaria," consisting of mounds or hillocks, some of which 

 are " five feet high, and are formed of particles of earth worked 

 into a material as hard as stone." The Termitarium has no 

 external aperture for ingress or egress, as far as can be seen, 

 the entrance being placed at some distance, and connected 

 with the central building by means of covered ways and 

 galleries. Each Termitarium is composed of "a vast num- 

 ber of chambers and irregular intercommunicating galleries, 

 built up with particles of earth or vegetable matter, cemented 

 together with the saliva of the insects." Many of " the very 

 large hillocks are the work of many distinct species, each of 

 which uses materials differently compacted, and keeps to its 

 own portion of the tumulus." 



A family of Termites consists of a king and queen, of the 

 workers, and of the soldiers. The royal couple are the parents 

 of the colony, and " are always kept together, closely guarded 

 by a detachment of workers, in a large chamber in the very 

 heart of the hive, surrounded by much stronger walls than the 

 other cells. They are both wingless, and immensely larger 

 than the workers and soldiers. The queen, when in her 

 chamber, is always found in a gravid condition, her abdomen 

 enormously distended with eggs, which, as fast as they come 

 forth, are conveyed by a relay of workers in their mouths 

 from the royal chamber to the minor cells dispersed through 

 the hive." 



At the beginning of the rainy season a number of winged 

 males and females are produced, which, when they arrive at 

 maturity, leave the hive, and fly abroad. They then shed their 

 wings (a special provision for this existing in a natural seam 

 running across the root of the wing and dividing the nervures); 

 they pair, and then become the kings and queens of future 

 colonies. 



The workers and the soldiers are distinct from the moment 



