THE SWARMING OF THE 
WHITE ANTS 
AST night the white ants swarmed; to-day 
fallen wings are scattered in thousands over 
the floor of the bungalow. What a strange 
phenomenon is this swarming of the ter- 
mites! It unfailingly accompanies the first rain of the 
monsoon, whether this comes in June, as in Upper 
India, or in October, as it happens in Madras. Scarcely 
is the ground thoroughly saturated with moisture when 
the swarms of white ants arise, apparently from no- 
where; and, if they happen to appear at night-time, 
they make for the light and thus invade the bungalow. 
Each of these myriads of swarming termites is pro- 
vided with two pairs of large wings. Nevertheless, the 
insects appear to have but little control over their move- 
ments; their flight reminds one of the tottering of a 
child when first it trusts itself to its weak little legs. 
The wings are ephemeral structures; their possessors 
are given no time in which to grow accustomed to them, 
for they are used for an hour or two and then cast off 
to perish. Notwithstanding this, they are beautiful 
objects ; each is exquisitely fashioned, every one is the 
work of a master hand. 
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