NEUROPTERA. 



WE now come to an order of insects containing some of the most beautiful and a few 

 of the most interesting members of the class. They are known by the possession of four 

 equal-sized membranous wings divided into a great number of little cells technically 

 called areolets. The mouth is furnished with transversely movable jaws, and the females 

 do not possess a sting or valved ovipositor. In this order are comprised the ant-lions, the 

 dragon-flies, the termites, the lace-wings, and the May-flies. 



THE first family in Mr. Westwood's arrangement is that of the Termites, popularly 

 but erroneously known by the name of WHITE ANTS, because they live in vast colonies, 

 and in many of their habits display a resemblance to the insect from which they take 

 their name. All the Termites are miners, and many of them erect edifices of vast 

 dimensions when compared with the size of their architects. For example, the buildings 

 erected by the common W T hite Ant (Termes belltcosus] will often reach the astonishing 

 height of sixteen or seventeen feet, which in proportion to the size of the insect would be 

 equivalent to an edifice a mile in height if built by man. The dwelling is made of clay, 

 worked in some marvellous manner by the jaws of the insect-architects ; and is of such 

 astonishing hardness, that, although hollow, and pierced by numerous galleries and 

 chambers, they will sustain the weight of cattle, which are in the habit of ascending these 

 wonderful monuments of insect labour for the purpose of keeping a watch on the 

 surrounding country. A full-sized habitation of the warlike Termite resembles a large 

 irregular cone, having a diameter about equal to its height, and covered with turrets and 

 smaller cones. Nor is this all, for the subterranean excavations are every whit as 

 marvellous as the building, consisting of galleries, chambers, and wells some fourteen 

 inches in width, and penetrating about five feet into the earth. These excavations serve 

 for homes, for nurseries, and for roads of communication between the several portions of 

 the vast establishment. 



To give a complete history of the Termites would be a task demanding so much time 

 and space, that it cannot be attempted in these pages ; and we must, therefore, content 

 ourselves with a slight sketch of their general history, premising that many parts of their 

 economy, and especially those which relate to their development, are still buried in 

 mystery. 



The most recent investigations give the following results : 



Each Termite colony is founded by a fruitful pair, called the king and queen, who are 

 placed in a chamber devoted to their sole use, and from which they never stir when once 

 enclosed. These insects produce a vast quantity of eggs, from which are hatched the 

 remaining members of the colony, consisting of neuters of both sexes, the females being 

 termed workers and the males soldiers, the latter being distinguished by their enormous 

 heads and powerful jaws ; of larvas of two forms, some of which will be fully developed, 

 and others pass all their lives in the worker or soldier condition ; of pupse of two forms ; 

 and, lastly, of male and female perfect insects, which are destined to found fresh colonies. 

 The neuters of either sex are without wings. 



In founding a colony, the order is as following: The parent pair are taken 

 possession of by the workers, who enclose them in a chamber which is intended as the 

 nucleus of the infant establishment. The walls of this chamber are pierced by holes 

 which will suffer the workers to pass, but are far too small to afford exit for the king or 

 queen. Shortly after they have been fairly installed, the royal pair lose their wings, and 

 a wondrous change soon takes place in the female. Though her head, thorax, and legs 

 retain thsir normal dimensions, her abdomen begins to swell in the most preposterous 

 manner, until it is as long as a man's finger and about twice its thickness, thus precluding 

 its owner from advancing a single step. 



