122 INSECTS AFFECTING THE ORANGE. 



TEBMES FLAVIPES Kollar. 

 [Fig. 46.] 



This species is common from Maine to Texas, and is especially abun- 

 dant in the South, where it invariably attacks wood buried in or lying 

 upon the ground. 



Each colony consists of numerous workers, among which are several 

 distinct forms, and a few males and females. The females never leave 

 the home nest, but, like the queen of the honey bee, devote themselves 

 to producing eggs, which are hatched and cared for by the workers. 



The central nests, in which are hived the queens and eggs, are rarely 

 discovered, but generally exist in deeply -buried roots or in the hearts of 

 stumps and logs of the largest size. 



The workers extend their operations to immense distances, and, in 

 search of food, excavate slender subterranean galleries, hundreds and 

 even thousands of feet in length. It is, therefore, practically impossi- 



FIG. 46. Termes flavipes : a, larva; &, winged male ; c, worker; d, soldier; e, large female ; /, nymphe 



(From the Am. Ent., Vol. II.) 



ble to trace these galleries to their source, and by finding and destroy- 

 ing the brood nest to break up a colony. 



Twice each year, in spring and fall, multitudes of winged males and 

 females are produced, which swarm forth during the cooler parts of the 

 day or after rains, and fill the air with their fluttering forms. Most of 

 these fall a prey to birds, reptiles, insects, and other predatory animals, 

 but many escape, and, after coupling, lose their wings, and in pairs seek 

 suitable places in which to found new colonies. 



Injuries to Orange. Owing to their subterranean habits and avoid- 

 ance of light, Termites are very insidious foes. Their vast numbers en- 

 able them to very quickly accomplish the work of destruction, so that 

 often the finding a tree in dying condition is the first intimation which 

 the orange-grower receives of their presence. Upon removing the earth 



