191 
rowing extensively within the infested object and hollowing out its 
whole interior without giving any surface indication of their pres¬ 
ence. Timbers thus infested sometimes collapse under pressure, 
endangering the safety of buildings, and floors and clapboards of 
houses are reduced to fragile shells through which the finger may 
be easily pushed. Where the course of their operations brings 
them into the light, they form covered passageways of mud or 
clay or of a kind of a paste or coarse papier mache made chiefly 
of the fiber of the wood through which they eat their way. 
In April and May the winged male and female termites leave 
their secluded quarters and swarm abroad in myriads, often thus 
giving to the astonished householder his first intimation of their 
presence. 
DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY. 
Description of the Forms .—The common white ant or termite 
of the United States may be easily recognized by the nearly milk- 
white color of the greater number of individuals which compose a 
colony,, by the fact of their living in large ant-like colonies, and 
by their general resemblance to our common ants, from which, how¬ 
ever, they differ notably by the form of the abdomen, which is 
broadly joined to the thorax instead of being pedunculate. 
If a white ants’ nest be opened at any season of the year there 
will be found a large number of individuals about .16 inch in 
length, of a dirty white color, with heads of moderate size and 
small jaws. These are called the workers, for they perform all 
the various duties of the colony. They make the burrows, pro¬ 
vide the food, and care for the young. They have no eyes, but 
the development of their instinctive powers is very remarkable. 
Although they have no power of reproduction, they may be 
looked upon as males and females whose sexual development has 
been checked while yet in the younger stages. 
Associated with the workers, and resembling them in color, are 
representatives of the soldier caste, a little larger in size, with 
very large heads and strong jaws. They are bold and pugnacious 
in disposition, and upon them depends the protection of the col- 
ony. If their passageways are damaged, the workers retreat and 
the thick-headed soldiers appear in the breach, and with project¬ 
ing wide-open jaws they move their heads threateningly from side 
to side, as if in search of an enemy. They are bliud like the 
workers,, and, like them, are undeveloped males and females. 
Late in the spring or early in the summer winged individuals 
may be found in the nests. These are the sexually mature males 
and females, differing greatlv in appearance from the workers 
and soldiers. Tbe^ are black or dark chestnut in color, the body 
being about .2 inch in length, while the wings expand about .63 
inch. The wings when not in use lie along the back, projecting 
more than half their length beyond the end of the body. Some¬ 
times swarms of these creatures appear in May and June. After 
flying a greater or Jess distance they alight on the ground, and 
then shed their wings. The males seek the females at this tincm, 
