NOTES ON PHILIPPINE TERMITES, I 
By S. F. Light 
Professor of Zoology, University of the Philippines 
The social insects known as termites, “white ants” or, in 
Philippine dialects, as anay, constitute a distinct order, the 
Isoptera. They are most nearly related to the Orthoptera and 
Neuroptera and, within the former order, to the Blattidse, or 
cockroaches. They are, therefore, among the more primitive' 
of insects, as regards structure and life history, which but makes 
the more impressive the high development of social instincts 
and habits and the striking polymorphism and division of labor 
which characterize the group. In structure and development 
they are far removed from the true ants, of the order Hymenop- 
tera, and as has been often pointed out the only reasons for 
the name “white ants” are that they form large colonies with 
a highly developed division of labor and specialization of castes, 
build mounds or nests, and display a complex social system — all 
suggestive of conditions among the true ants. 
The termites present splendid opportunities for the study of 
social habits and instincts and are at the same time of very 
great economic importance because of the enormous damage 
caused by their attacks on wooden structures and even living trees 
and shrubs. Hence any work on termites — systematic, mor- 
phological, ecological, or faunistic — is of practical value and 
may have a direct, present-day bearing on human welfare. 
The literature dealing with termites is very extensive. The 
works of outstanding importance are those of Smeathman 
(1781), Hagen (1855-1860, who gives a complete summary 
of all earlier work), Grassi and Sandias (1893), Frog- 
gatt (1895-1897), Sjostedt (1896-1914), Wasmann (1896 to the 
present time), Haviland (1898), Silvestri (1901 to the present 
time), Banks (1901 to the present time but particularly his “A 
Revision of the Nearctic Termites,” 1920), Heath (1903 and 
1907), Desneux (1904-1907), Holmgren (1906 to the present 
time), Escherich (1908 and 1912), Bugnion (1910-1915), 
Oshima (1910 to the present time), Andrews (1911), Snyder 
(1912 to the present time), Fuller (1912 and 1915), Hill (1915 
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