TERMITES 



queen, are soldiers and workers, the latter much out- 

 numbering the former. During the second year, the queen 

 lays a still greater number of eggs and probably produces 

 them at more frequent intervals. With the increase in 

 the activity of her ovaries, her abdomen enlarges and she 

 takes on a matronly appearance, attaining a length fully 

 twice that of her virgin figure and a girth in proportion. 

 The king, however, remains faithful to his spouse; and 

 he, too, may fatten up a little, sufficiently to give him 

 some distinction amongst his multiplying subjects. The 

 termite king is truly a king, in the modern way, for he has 

 renounced all authority and responsibility and leads a 

 care-free life, observing only the decorums of polite 

 society and adhering to the traditions of a gentleman; 

 but he also achieves the highest distinction of democracy, 

 for he is literally the father of his country. 



Another year rolls by, bringing more eggs, more workers, 

 more soldiers. And now, perhaps, other forms appear 

 in the maturing broods. These are marked at a certain 

 stage of their development by the possession of short 

 wing stubs or pads on the back of the normally wing- 

 bearing segments. With succeeding molts the wing pads 

 become larger and larger, until they finally develop, in 

 most of these individuals, into long wings like those of 

 the king and the queen when they first flew out from the 

 parent colony. At last, then, the new family is to have 

 its first swarm; and when the fully-winged members are 

 all ready for the event and the proper kind of day arrives, 

 the workers open a few exits from the galleries, and the 

 winged ones are off. We already know their history, 

 for they will only do what their parents did before them 

 and what their ancestors have done for millions of gener- 

 ations. Let us go back to the galleries. 



A few of the individuals that developed winged pads 

 are fated to disappointment, for their wings never grow to 

 a functional size and they are thereby prevented from 

 joining the swarm. Their reproductive organs and their 



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