48 
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO FORESTS. 
Unpartitioned channels or runways usually contain only workers 
and soldiers; the partitioned channels contain larva? and nymphs 
besides. The young, freshly hatched, developing larva? are often 
found in broad but shallow moist galleries in the interior of the 
heartwood. Extensions of an old colony, consisting of subterranean 
passages leading to small pieces of decaying wood, contain only 
workers and soldiers. 
As previously stated, during the winter all the castes seek the more 
remote or subterranean passages of the nest. 
THE SWARM OR SO-CALLED NUPTIAL FLIGHT. 
Under normal conditions in the Southern States. in early April 
and May, in the case of the more common species, flavipes, and in 
June in the case of virginicus, the colonizing individuals emerge in 
en ormous numbers from 
small holes in the wood 
of stumps, logs, poles, 
fence posts, foundation 
timbers in buildings, 
and the roots of trees 
and from the ground. 
It is 7 to 10 days after 
the last sexed adults 
have acquired wings 
and mature pigmenta- 
tion that the swarm 
occurs. The winged in- 
sects usually crawl upon 
some elevation before 
taking flight: before 
swarming they teem 
over the tops of infested stumps (fig. 12) and festoon brush lying on 
the ground in order to get a start. If a sexed adult loses its wings 
while at a height above ground (as on the top of a stump) it jerks 
itself up in the air in endeavoring to get down. Numerous workers 
and soldiers are congregated in the outer layers of the wood near the 
exit holes at the time of emergence. These colonizing individuals 
differ from the other soft-bodied castes in that they are larger, of a 
castaneous color, and are highly specialized and developed for the 
purpose of swarming and starting new colonies. In addition, they 
are sexed and have eyes and wings. While it is true that they are 
weak fliers and are preyed upon by many insectivorous animals — 
birds, lizards, insects, etc. — yet some escape to found new colonies. 
a The first swarm which contains the greatest number of individuals does not 
occur outdoors until the ripening of the pollen of the flowers of dogwood ( Cornus 
ftorida), which is also influenced by seasonal and geographical variations. 
Fig. 12.— Leucotermes flavipes: View of a swarm of sexed adults 
emerging from a stump at Palls Church, Va.; a portion of the 
enormous numbers constituting a swarm. (Original.) 
