INSECTA. 



and countless enemies are provided for the purpose of checking 

 their inordinate accumulation. 



Fig. 129. 

 A 



(333.) Among the most remarkable provisions for preventing su- 

 perabundant fertility, is that law which compels the most prolific 

 insects to live in large societies, and permits but one female out of 

 a multitude to lay eggs. As an example of this, we may take the 

 hive-bees,* so remarkable for their elevated instincts and industri- 

 ous habits. A swarm of bees consists, first of females, whose sex- 

 ual organs remain permanently in an undeveloped condition, usu- 

 ally called the Workers (Jig- 129, A) ; secondly, of perfect males or 

 drones (c) ; and thirdly, of a solitary fertile female, called the Queen 

 (B), which gives birth to all the progeny of the hive ; and thus, 

 instead of 20,000 or 30,000 eggs being furnished by every one of 

 as many females, one female only is permitted to be instrumental 

 in perpetuating the species. 



(334.) The termite ants likewise, were it not for a similar restric- 

 tion, would soon, by their overwhelming increase, depopulate whole 

 regions of the earth, and render the countries in which they are 

 met with absolutely uninhabitable by their extreme voracity. A 

 community of termites is said to consist of five different members, 

 namely, winged males and females (Jig. 130, A) ; apterous neu- 

 ters, or soldiers, which have large heads furnished with strong pro- 

 jecting mandibles (B) ; uriwinged pupse, having a smaller head, and 

 the rudiments of wings only (c) ; and, lastly, of similarly formed 

 larvte, or workers (D), differing from the latter only in wanting 

 the rudiments of wings. The following is a brief history of the 

 establishment and growth of a colony of these insects, as narrated 

 by Burin eister.f At the termination of the hot season, the young 



* For ample details concerning the habits of these interesting creatures, the reader is 

 referred to Dr. Bevan's work on the Honey -Bee, its Natural History, Physiology, and 

 Management, vol. I, 12mo. Lond. t Op. cit. p. 535. 



