XXVII 
TERMITES (white ANTS) 
Every Englishman who visits Tropical Africa for the 
first time has his attention arrested hy the large mounds 
formed by the termites. These large and curious 
structures are almost as constant features in an African 
landscape as cottages in the rural parts of the British 
Isles. Termites are often called white ants, but 
Smeathman, who wrote an interesting account of their 
natural history in 1781, distinctly mentions that 
although these insects live in communities, construct 
extraordinary nests, and are, like ants, omnivorous, they 
are by no means the same kind of insects. There are 
scarcely any two divisions of insects more different 
than termites and ants. 
Termites live in communities consisting of enormous 
numbers of individuals ; among bhem there are several 
forms, such as workers, soldiers, and winged males and 
females. The winged individuals are only present in 
the nest for a few days and then leave in swarms. In 
addition, there are the king and queen, which also lack 
wings, and therefore cannot leave the nest; the queen is 
enclosed in a cell. The continuance of the community 
depends entirely on the king and queen ; and if the queen 
dies the community perishes. 'The queen has a remark¬ 
able appearance, for the abdomen, in consequence of the 
formation of the eggs within it, grows enormously, and 
these are discharged in such large quantities that 
