NO. 12 ADAPTATIONS TO SOCIAL LIFE — SNYDER 3 



similar to those in which termites are found, often occurring in the 

 galleries of the slower-moving termites, the young of which they 

 greatly resemble. In addition to this social life, Snyder has noted 

 that species of Zorotypus have apterous as well as the winged repro- 

 ductive forms ; the latter individuals lose their wings in a manner 

 similar to the lower termites — the point of breakage being poorly 

 defined — before rearing their young in runways under bark on dead 

 trees, logs, etc., where it is moist. The apterous reproductive forms 

 differ with the species ; in one species (snyderi Caudell) they are 

 darkly colored, with ocelli; in another (hubbardi Caudell) they are 

 colorless and without ocelli, as are the nymphs or young. These 

 apterous adults are present in their colonies in large numbers, as in 

 the case of termites, and undoubtedly polygamy exists, as it does 

 among termites. As in the case of termites, species of Zorotypus pass 

 the greater portion of their lives in the dark. Undoubtedly Zorotypus 

 is at the dawn of social life. 



SOCIAL LIFE 



Certain other insects — the social insects, such as ants, bees, wasps, 

 and termites — live permanently together in more or less fixed com- 

 munities or colonies. The basic " adaptations " to social life are 

 found in the caste system. Here the specialization follows a more 

 or less closely adhered-to division of labor with forms better and 

 often strikingly fitted for the principal purposes of life as feeding, 

 reproduction, and protection. I shall refer only to termites. 



THE TERMITES (ISOPTERA) 



Termites live together in well-organized communities or large 

 colonies in wood, in the ground, in mound nests, or in carton tree 

 nests. There are marked differences in their life from that of other 

 social insects. Termites have an incomplete metamorphosis ; there is 

 no true pupal state, but resting or quiescent stages occur during 

 molting. There are always present in termite colony life, winged, 

 colonizing, sexual forms (appearing each season at a definite period 

 in well-established colonies), soldiers or workers, or both, of both 

 sexes but sterile (neuters) and at least one pair of parent repro- 

 ductive individuals (pi. 2, figs, i and 2). Again, the termite colony 

 is not a feminist society — there are " equal rights " for the male. 

 Both the male and female parent termites feed and care for the young 

 in incipient colonies ; their first progeny are not always neuters, how- 

 ever, although this is true in some genera; and most of the primitive 



