126 ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS THE WEB OF LIFE 



apertures, giving free access to the workers, and furthering ven- 

 tilation. The king lives here of his own free-will, while the queen 

 is obliged to be a prisoner, for her abdomen is so filled with eggs 

 as to be of relatively enormous size. Attendant crowds of workers 

 are constantly to be found within the royal chamber, attending to 

 the various wants of the king and queen, and carrying away the 

 eggs, which are sometimes laid at the rate of 60 per minute 

 (fig. noi). Numerous worker-dwellings 9 (s) adjoin the abode of 

 their titular sovereigns, and the outer part of the ground-floor is 



Fig. 1101. Royal Cell of Warrior Termite (Termes belltcosiis], broken open to show queen (Q) and her attendants 

 e (on left), Openings into royal cell; e (on right), an opening that has been closed up; about % natural size. 



occupied by numerous store-chambers (m) in which are heaped up 

 gums and other dry vegetable products. The first floor (B) is a 

 large pillared hall, which has no known use except that of serv- 

 ing as an air-space. The second floor (c) may be called the 

 " nursery ", for here the eggs are hatched out, and the young 

 nymphs carefully tended. The space is subdivided by means of 

 strong vertical partitions (a), and the central portion is marked 

 off into a large number of small compartments (^), separated from 

 one another by more delicate party-walls (c). The third story or 

 attic is simply an air-space. It will be noted that the arrange- 

 ments are such as to further the maintenance of equable con- 

 ditions as regards temperature and moisture, to variations in 

 which Termites appear to be particularly sensitive. 



