262 



MANUAL OF ZOuLOGY. 



taken from Mr Bates's work on the Amazons, where there is 

 an excellent description of the habits of these remarkable 

 insects. 



Termites are small, soft-bodied insects, which live in large 

 communities, as do the true Ants. They differ, however, from 

 the Ants in the fact that the workers are individuals of no 

 fully developed sex, whereas amongst the latter they are unde- 

 veloped females. Further, the neuters of the Termites are 

 always composed of two distinct classes or "castes" — the 

 workers and the soldiers. Lastly, the Ants undergo a quiescent 

 pupa-stage ; whereas the young Termites, on their emergence 

 from the egg, do not differ from the adult in any respect except 





Fig. 91. — Termites (Termes hellicosiis) ; a King, before the wings are cast off; b Queen, 

 with the abdomen distended with eggs ; c Worker ; d Soldier. 



Each species of Termites consists of several distinct orders 

 or castes, which live together, and constitute populous, or- 

 ganised communities. They inhabit . structjires known as 

 " Termitaria," consisting of mounds or hillocks, some of which 

 are " five feet high, and are formed of particles of earth worked 

 into a material as hard as stone." The Termitarium has no 

 external aperture for ingress or egress, as faj: as can be seen, 

 the entrance being placed at some distance, and connected 

 with the central building by means of covered ways and 

 galleries. Each Termitarium is composed of " a vast num- 

 ber of chambers and irregular intercommunicating galleries, 

 built up with particles of earth or vegetable matter, cemented 

 together with the saliva of the insects." Many of " the very 

 large hillocks are the work of many distinct species, each of 



