538 ‘TERMITEL». 
To give a complete history of the Termites would be a task demanding so 
much time and space, that it cannot be attempted in these pages; and we 
must therefore content ourselves with a slight sketch of their general 
history, premising that many parts of their economy, and especially those 
which relate to their development, are still buried in mystery. 
The most recent investigations give the following results :— 
Each Termite colony is foinded by a frur:ful pair, called the king and 
queen, who are placed in a chamber devoted to their sole use, and from 
which they never stir when once inclosed. These insects produce a vast 
quantity of eggs, from which are hatched the remaining me:nbers of the 
colony, consisting of neuters of botn ssxes, the females being termed 
workers and the males scidiers, the 1atter being distinguished by their enor- 
mous heads and powe-ful jaws; of larve of two forms, some of which will 
be fully developed, ana others pass all their lives in the worker or soldier 
WHITE ANT.—(Zermes bellicosus.) Soldier—Worker—Female. 
condition ; of pupz of two forms; and, lastly, of male and female perfect 
insects, which are destined to found fresh colonies. The neuters of either 
sex are without wings. 
In founding a colony, the order is as follows. The parent pair are taken 
possession of by the workers, who inclose them in a chamber which is 
intended as the nucleus of the infant establishment. The walls of this 
chamber are pierced by holes which will suffer the workers 10 pass, but are 
far too small to afford exit for the king or queen. Shortly after they have 
been fairly installed, a wondrous change takes place in the female. Though 
her head, thorax, and legs retain their normal dimensions, her abdomen 
begins to swell in the most preposterous manner, until it is as long as a 
man’s finger and about twice its thickness, thus precluding its owner from 
advancing a single step. 
The queen, thus developed and for ever fixed in her home, is truly the 
mother of her subjects, producing nearly eighty thoysand eggs in each 
