i78 



NEUROPTERA 



point is not yet satisfactorily ascertained. As regards the males 

 there is reason to think that considerable variety as to longevity 

 prevails. But the belief is that the royal males of Termitidae also 

 form an exception to other Insects in the prolongation of the 

 terminal periods of their lives. In Hymenoptera, male in- 

 dividuals are profusely produced, but their lives are short, and 

 their sole duty is the continuation of the species by a single 



act. We have seen that 

 Grassi is of opinion that 

 a similar condition of 

 affairs exists at present 

 with Termes lucifugus in 

 Sicily, but with this ex- 

 ception it has always been 

 considered that the life 

 of the king Termite is, 

 roughly speaking, con- 

 temporaneous with that 

 of the queen ; it is said 

 that in certain species the 

 king increases in bulk, 

 though not to an extent 

 that can be at all com- 

 pared with the queen. 



It must be admitted 

 that the duration of life 

 of the king has not been 

 sufficiently established, for 

 the coexistence of a king 

 with a queen in the 

 royal cell is not incon- 

 sistent with the life of the king being short, and with his replace- 

 ment by another. Much that is imaginary exists in the litera- 

 ture respecting Termites, and it is possible that the life of the 

 king may prove to be not so prolonged as has been assumed. 



Returning to the subject of the limitation of the reproduction 

 of the community to a single pair, we may remark that a priori 

 one would suppose such a limitation to be excessively unfavour- 

 able to the continuation of the species ; and as it nevertheless is 

 the fact that this feature is almost, if not quite, without exception 



Fig. 235. — Eoyal pair of Termes sp. from Singa- 

 pore, taken out of royal cell. A, A, King, 

 lateral and dorsal views ; B, B, queen, dorsal and 

 lateral views. Natural sizes. 



