TERMITES 



the tip of the abdomen comes against the wing bases, 

 the encumbering organs are broken off. It may be 

 observed that there is a suture across the base of each 

 wing just to make the breaking easy. 



The now wingless termites, being young males and 

 females just come to maturity, naturally pair off; but 



Fig. 80. The second form, or short-winged reproductive caste, 



of Riticulilermes tibialis. (From Banks and Snyder) 



A, male. B, female 



not for a companionate marriage, which, it must be 

 confessed, is the popular form of matrimony with most 

 insects. The termites take the vows of lifetime fidelity, 

 or "till death do us part," for with the female termite 

 intensive domesticity and maternity are the ruling pas- 

 sions. To find a home site and there found a colony is 

 her consuming ambition, and, whether the male likes 

 it or not, he must accept her conditions. The female, 

 therefore, searches out a hole or a crevice in a dead tree 

 or a decayed stump, or crawls under a piece of wood 

 lying on the ground, and the male follows. If the site 



'35 



