Chap. I. 
WHITE ANTS. 
61 
ants, except their consisting, in each species and family, 
of several distinct orders of individuals or castes which 
live together in populous, organized communities. In 
both there are, besides the males and females, a set of 
individuals of no fully-developed ^ex, immensely more 
numerous than their brothers and sisters, whose task 
is to work and care for the young brood. In true ants 
this class of the community consists of undeveloped 
females, and when it comprises, as is the case in many 
species, individuals of different structure, the func- 
tions of these do not seem to be rigidly defined. The 
contrary happens in the Termites, and this perhaps 
shows that the organization of their communities has 
reached a higher stage, the division of labour being 
more complete. The neuters in these wonderful insects 
are always divided into two classes — fighters and 
workers ; both are blind, and each keeps to its own 
task ; the one to build, make covered roads, nurse the 
young brood from the egg upwards, take care of the 
king and queen, who are the progenitors of the whole 
colony, and secure the exit of the males and females, 
when they acquire wings and fly out to pair and dis- 
seminate the race : the other to defend the community 
against all comers. Ants and termites are also widely 
different in their mode of growth, or, as it is called, 
metamorphosis. Ants in their early stage are footless 
grubs, which, before they reach the adult state, pass 
through an intermediate quiescent stage (pupa) in- 
closed in a membrane. Termites, on the contrary, 
have a similar form when they emerge from the egg to 
that which they retain throughout life ; the chief dif- 
