INTERRELATIONS OF INSECTS 



321 



occur, and they do little injury as compared with the tropical 

 species; though our common Termes flavipes occasionally 

 damages woodwork, books, plants, etc., in an extensive way, 

 particularly in the Southern states. 



Termitophilism. Associating with termites are found 

 various other arthropods, mostly insects. Their relations to 

 the termites are, so far as is known, similar to those described 

 beyond between myrmecophilous species and ants. These 

 termitophilous forms, however, have received as yet but little 

 attention. 



HONEY BEE 



For more than three thousand years the honey bee has been 

 almost unique among insects as an object of human care and 

 study. It was highly prized by the old Greeks and Romans 

 (as appears from the writings of Aristotle, 330 B. C, and 

 Cato, about 200 B. C.) and actually worshiped as a symbol 

 of royalty by the ancient Egyptians, through whose papyri 

 and scarabs the honey bee may be traced back to the time of 

 Rameses L, or 1400 B. C. 



Though its habits have been somewhat modified by domesti- 

 cation, the honey bee, unlike most domesticated animals, is still 

 so little dependent upon man that it readily returns to a wild 

 life. Under many distinct races, which are due largely to 

 human intervention, Apis mellifera is widely distributed over 

 the earth. 



Castes. The species comprises three kinds of individuals : 

 queen, drone and worker (Fig. 277). The workers are fe- 



FIG. 277. 



The honey bee 



22 



B C 



:, Apis mellifera. A, queen; B, drone; C, worker. Natural size. 



