WHITK ANTS. 607 



a section of the little holes, which are shown to he cylindrical 

 passages commtmicating with the interior of the cell. The 

 worker Termites, heing very small, can traverse these passages 

 with perfect ease, while the enormous hody of the female is 

 utterly unable to pass. 



Through these passages the workers are continually passing, 

 some entering with empty jaws, and others emerging, each 

 holding between its mandibles an egg, which it is conveying to 

 the nurseries. So rapidly are the eggs laid, that the workers 

 are fully employed in carrying them out and placing them 

 under the charge of the nurses. 



The contrast in size between the workers and the queen can 

 easily be seen by reference to the illustration. At Tig. 5 is 

 shown the queen, and in the right hand of Fig. 1 is seen one of 

 the workers passing through the tunnel. None but the workers 

 can pass through so small an aperture, for the fighters or 

 soldiers are of very much greater size than the workers, as may 

 be seen at Fig. 4. 



The queen, however, is necessarily very much reduced in size, 

 as, if she had been drawn of her full dimensions, she would have 

 occupied the whole length of the drawing. Before she is im- 

 mured in the royal cell, she is by no means a large insect, the 

 abdomen being in ordinary proportion to the thorax and head. 

 But, when she has been fairly installed in her office her abdomen 

 begins to enlarge, until it becomes so enormous that she is 

 totally unable to move, and therefore, her enforced prison is so 

 far from being a hardship, that it is a necessary protection for 

 her huge and soft body, which is several hundred times larger 

 than that of her mate. Large indeed she must be, as she is 

 calculated to produce, on the average, rather more than thirty 

 million eggs. 



Figs. 3, 3 show the appearance of the royal cell when split 

 open longitudinally, the recess which contains the queen being 

 seen nearly in the centre. All the drawings are taken from 

 specimens in the British Museum, and in the cell which is here 

 figured, the outline of the queen is quite perceptible, having been 

 impressed on the interior of the cell. The mode by which it is 

 enlarged is also shown, a further enlargement having been begun, 

 but cut short by the demolition of the nest. The cells vary very 

 much in size, probably in accordance with the dimensions of 



