THE TERMITE, OR WHITE ANT. 865 



nests, because they eat tlie inmatfes, considering them to be a pe- 

 culiar luxury. The same author whom I have already mentioned 

 describes a curious interview that he had with Palani, a Bayeiye 

 chief. "Wishing to show the chief the superiority of European 

 cookery, Mr. Andersson spread some a,pricot jam on bread, and 

 offered it to him. The chief took it,, and expressed himself much 

 pleased with it, but asserted that Termites were much superior in 

 flavor. In order to catch the Termites in sufficient numbers, the 

 native makes a hole in the nest, and when the workers are con- 

 gregated for the purpose of repairing the breach, he sweeps them 

 into a vessel, and repeats the operation until he has obtained as 

 many as he wants. 



As is the case with the true ants, the Termites only retain their 

 wings for a limited period, using them for the purpose of escap- 

 ing from the nest, and snapping them off as soon as they have 

 met with a partner. The manner in which the wings are fixed 

 to the body is the same in both groups of insects, and these sin- 

 gular organs are shed by being bent sharply forward. If a living 

 Termite be caught, and its wings pressed forward with a pin, they 

 will instantly snap off; but if bent backward, a piece of the body 

 will be torn away before the wings can be removed. 



A correspondent of the Field newspaper gives a very interest- 

 ing account of the proceedings of the Termites living in India. 

 After mentioning the peculiar shedding of the wings, he writes as 

 follows : 



" The career of the winged white ant, as far as I have had an 

 opportunity of judging, is as follows: Soon after the commence- 

 ment of the first shower which ushers, in the rainy season in India, 

 swarms of winged white ants are to be seen issuing from small 

 holes in the earth, in old mud or sunburnt brick walls, and from 

 places of a similar character, in which the original nests may have 

 been located whence these swarms are thrown off. These legions 

 at once attract the attention of all the insectivorous and omnivor- 

 ous birds in the neighborhood, and the minahs, crows, and spar- 

 rows are on the alert to feast to satiety on the defenseless ants. 



" Judging from the appearance of the wings of these ants as 

 they emerge from their earth-home, I should '^ disposed to think 

 that they do not develop their wings until the dampness of the 

 atmosphere warns them to prepare for action. There is a new, 

 smooth, and glossy appearance about them, not linlike the wings 

 of a young wasp, or the shine of a new hat. The ants vary much 



