138 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



attack large posts and piles, in which way they have been exceedingly mischievous in some parts 

 of France, especially in La flochelle, where they attack the piles upon which a great part of the 

 town, is built. Many exotic species have similar habits, but they generally seem to affect certain 

 species of trees. The nests made among the branches of trees, as also those attached to fences, 

 and some ground nests, sometimes as big as a hogshead cask, are described by Mr. Hubbard, who 

 observed them in Jamaica, as composed of a brown substance resembling papier mdche, probably 

 composed of wood masticated by the insects, and mixed with a viscid saliva. Other ground-living 

 species, such as the celebrated Termes bsllicosus of South Africa, whose habits were described many years 

 ago by Smeathman, build nests of clay, often of considerable size ; thus the dwellings of the South 

 African species just mentioned often attain a height of ten or twelve feet, and are of a conical form, 

 with similarly conical turrets surrounding the main central edifice. These nests soon become 

 covered with vegetation, and their strength is so great that men and large quadrupeds can stand upon 

 them to obtain an elevated look-out point. 



We cannot dwell further upon the structure of these remarkable dwellings, all parts of which 

 are occupied by innumerable galleries and chambers, which usually have a single entrance, from 

 which burrows and galleries are carried in all directions by the inmates. The habits and peculiarities 

 of the latter must now engage our attention. 



At a certain season, which differs for the different species, the winged males and females, which 

 have undei'gone their last change a few weeks before, quit the nest and swarm into the air. After a 

 short flight they descend again to the ground and lose their wings. The males sometimes commence 

 the courtship of their partners during the flight, but more frequently not until after both have come 

 down to the ground agiin, when the male closely follows the female as she walks about, often 

 even seizing the extremity of her abdomen with his mandibles. It would appear, however, that 

 these manoeuvres are strictly of the nature of courtship, in which the male simply seeks to recommend 

 himself to the notice of his intended consort. Unfortunately these sentimental proceedings are only 

 too frequently cut short by the host of enemies ants, birds, lizards, snakes, toads, and other animals 

 which flock greedily to the spot. It would seem, from the state of the internal reproductive organs 

 at this time, especially in the males, that there is little likelihood of an impregnation of the female 

 in the air during her short flight, such as takes place in the social Hymenoptera ; and, in fact, 

 it seems probable that nothing of the kind occurs until after the bride and her bridegroom have 

 taken up their abode in some hospitable nest, and been adopted as the "king" and "queen "of 

 the community. Their marriage, in fact, is for the remainder of their lives, which last for about a 

 year from this time, and during this period the queen inhabits a large chamber usually placed 



in the centre of the 

 nest, where she 

 dwells with her se- 

 lected partner. Occa- 

 sionally, according to 

 Dr. Fritz Miiller, one 

 WfF*' male may be found 

 in attendance upon 

 two females. After 



FEMALE TEKMES, FROM THE AFRICAN COAST. impregnation tllC 



ovaries of the queen 



become exceedingly active, and eggs are developed in them in enormous numbers, so that the 

 abdomen becomes immensely distended, and the chitinous dorsal and ventral plates are widely 

 separated, forming mere patches upon an expanse of soft skin. In this condition the queen is, 

 of course, quite helpless, and her sole business in life is to consume the food furnished to her and 

 to produce eggs, of which she is said sometimes to lay as many as 80,000 in a day. These last are 

 removed by the workers as fast as they are produced, and usually conveyed to the lower part 

 of the nest. The food of the young larvae, according to Mr. Hubbard, consists of a prepared article 

 stored up in the nest " in the form of very hard and tough rounded masses, evidently composed of 

 comminuted wood." These are scattered through the nests, often in considerable quantities, and 



