98 Mr. T. S. Savage on the Termitidse of West Africa. 



windward of Cape Palmas use them as food. To catch them, 

 bowls of water are set on the ground, into which they fall as 

 their wings drop off. They are then roasted as shrimps, and the 

 larger beetles (Goliathi) are said to be equally sweet. 



The individuals of the two sexes appear to be about the same 

 size when they issue from the hill, not exceeding half an inch. 

 The largest queen I have ever seen at the head of a community 

 measured 4| inches in length. 



Messrs. Kir by and Spence state that the queen lives but two 

 years, which is incorrect. I have observed the yearly increase of 

 hills for five years or more, and, when dissected, they have yielded 

 a queen of corresponding size. To say that a successor to the 

 original one might have been elected would be gratuitous. 

 Nothing is known of their habits to warrant such an assertion, 

 while everything we do know goes to prove that they live for 

 many years. 



It is stated also, that but one queen is ever found in a hill. 

 This, too, is incorrect. But one is generally found. I have 

 known two to occur. They were contained in the same struc- 

 ture, called by Smeathman " the royal chamber," but separated 

 by a septum of clay. The hill was of the usual size. It was 

 " dug down " by a colonist at Cape Palmas, who, knowing that 

 I was investigating the habits of the insect, kindly brought them 

 to my residence. I regretted exceedingly my inability to decide 

 the question which arose to my mind at first sight, " Is it a case 

 of bigamy V* The person who discovered them took no notice, 

 and was unable to say that he saw even one king. It occurred 

 to me that it might be an anomaly. I therefore made inqui- 

 ries at Montserrado and the different European settlements that 

 I visited, and ascertained that the same thing had occurred at 

 those points, though it was considered quite unusual. 



I am able here to confirm the truth of Mr. Smeathman's state- 

 ment, that the king and queen are permanently inclosed in their 

 apartment, which has been doubted by the eminent writer of the 

 article Termitidce, in the ' British Cyclopaedia of Natural History * 

 (understood to be J. 0. Westwood, Esq.). 



The sentence in which the doubt occurs runs as follows : — 

 " The young queen of the hive swarms is followed by a portion 

 of the community ; and the female after swarming, and the loss 

 of her wings, is guarded by the worker ants ; there is, therefore, 

 so much analogy in these circumstances that we are almost 

 tempted to consider that Smeathman must have erred in stating 

 that the working Termites imprison both the king and queen 

 Termes. That it should be necessary for the latter to be care- 

 fully guarded will be very evident ; but why the king in his help- 

 less and wingless state (for we consider that the loss of wings is 



