Chap. I. 
WHITE ANTS. 
65 
which attach themselves to the long worm-like tongue 
of this animal, and the workers, on whom the prospe- 
rity of the young brood immediately depends, are left 
for the most part unharmed. I always found, on 
thrusting my finger into a mixed crowd of Termites, 
that the soldiers only fastened upon it. Thus the 
fighting caste do in the end serve to protect the species 
by sacrificing themselves for its good. 
A family of Termites consists of workers as the 
majority, of soldiers, and of the King and Queen. These 
are the constant occupants of a completed Termitarium. 
The royal couple are the father and mother of the 
colony, and are always kept together closely guarded by 
a detachment of workers in a large chamber in the very 
heart of the hive, surrounded by much stronger walls 
than the other cells. They are wingless and both im- 
mensely larger than the workers and soldiers. The 
Queen, when in her chamber, is always found in a 
gravid condition, her abdomen enormously distended 
with eggs, which, as fast as they come forth, are con- 
veyed by a relay of workers in their mouths from the 
royal chamber to the minor cells dispersed throughout the 
hive. The other members of a Termes family are the 
winged individuals : these make their appearance only 
at a certain time of the year, generally in the beginning 
of the rainy season. It has puzzled naturalists to make 
out the relationship between the winged Termites and 
the wingless King and Queen. It has also generally 
been thought that the soldiers and workers are the 
larvse of the others ; an excusable mistake, seeing 
that they much resemble larvae. I satisfied myself, 
VOL. II. F 
