903 
TERM 
at the apex 5 legs pallid.—Found in the equinoctial parts of 
Africa. 
4. Termes mordax.—Black; the segments of the abdomen 
white at the apex; legs black.—Found in the equinoctial 
parts of Africa. 
5. Termes Capense.—Yellow, with hyaline wings; brown 
at the margin.—Found in India and Southern Africa. 
6 . Termes fatidicum.—Abdomen ovate; mouth pallid; 
brown eyes; antennae setaceous.—Found in Europe, chiefly 
the southern part. 
7. Termes pulsatorium.—Abdomen oblong; mouth red; 
eyes yellow; antennae setaceous.—Found in Europe and 
America. 
8 . Termes divinatorium.—Abdomen transversely sulcated; 
brown mouth, and black eyes.—Chiefly found in books; 
very lively, irritable, and whitish. 
It is observed, that the European species of termes are very 
small, compared with those of the warmer regions of Africa 
and America; and instead of being gregarious, as in those 
climates, are usually found single. Of these, the most known is 
the termes pulsatorius of Linnaeus, a small insect of a whitish 
colour, and distinguished by Derharn and some other na¬ 
turalists, by the appellation of “ Pediculus pulsatorius.” 
During the months of summer, it is common in houses, 
particularly in decayed wainscots, and is remarkable for 
emitting a long-continued sound, resembling the ticking of 
a watch; it is commonly met with in collections of dried 
plants, i:c., to which it is very injurious. It cannot bear, 
on account of its tender frame, the slightest pressure, and it 
is very quick in its motion. When magnified, the head ap¬ 
pears large, the eyes very conspicuous, of a beautiful golden 
colour, and divided into innumerable hexagonal convexities; 
the antennae long and setaceous; the palpi two in number, 
moderately long, and terminating in a large club-shaped 
top ; the thorax rather narrow, and the abdomen obtusely 
oval; the thighs, or first joints of the legs, thick, the remain¬ 
ing ones slender, and the feet furnished with very small claws. 
The whole animal is beset with scattered hairs. This insect, 
according to the observations of Derharn, when first hatched 
from the egg, is white, oval, and very small, exactly resem¬ 
bling the common mite; furnished with eight legs, and beset 
with long hairs. After a certain time it casts its skin, and 
appears in the form already described. Degeer has found on 
each side of the thorax the appearances of rudiments of 
wings, resembling a pair of oblong scales; and Dr. Shaw 
affirms, from his own observations, that some individuals of 
this species become winged at their full growth; the wings, 
four in number, being very large, of a slightly indistinct ap¬ 
pearance, and variegated with blackish and brown clouds or 
spots. In the beginning of July this change takes place, 
and several insects may be seen with the wings half-grown; 
in a few days they gain their full size. 
Dr. Derharn is of opinion, that the ticking sound of this 
animal is analogous to the call of birds to their mates during 
the breeding season; and this opinion is very probable. 
This sound, says Dr. Shaw, as well as that produced by the 
“ Ptinus fatidicus,” or death-watch, seems to prove in a 
convincing manner, that insects possess the faculty of hear¬ 
ing, though this be denied by some naturalists. 
Of the exotic termites, the most remarkable is the termes 
bellicosus. The animals of this species have been minutely 
described by Mr. Smeathman, from whose account the fol¬ 
lowing particulars are extracted. 
The termites, which have been taken notice of by various 
travellers in different parts of the torrid zone, and called 
by the name of white ants, resemble the ants in their 
manner of living, which is in communities, forming ex¬ 
traordinary nests in the surface of the ground, and various 
subterraneous passages, and also in their provident and 
diligent labour; but in both respects much surpass them. 
The termites are represented by Linnaeus as the greatest 
calamity of both Indies, because of the havoc they make in 
all kinds of wooden buildings, utensils, and furniture, so 
that nothing but metal or stone can escape their destructive 
jaws. 
E S, 
Smeathman observes, that the insect in its perfect state has 
four wings without any sting, and should therefore be ranged 
under the neuroptera, and not under the aptera of the Lin- 
naean system. The communities of termites consist of one 
male and one female, generally the parents of all the rest, 
and of three orders of insects, apparently of very differ¬ 
ent, though really of the same species. Those of the first 
order are the working insects, or labourers; the second 
comprehends the fighting insects, or soldiers, which do no 
labour; and the third are the winged ones, or perfect in¬ 
sects, which are male and female, and capable of propa¬ 
gation, but neither labour nor fight; the kings and queens 
belong to this order, and within a few weeks after they are 
elected and elevated to this rank, they migrate, and either 
establish new kingdoms, or perish within a day or two. The 
largest species, called tenues bellicosus, is the best known on 
the coast of Africa; it erects immense buildings of well- 
tempered earth or clay, which are constructed with signal 
ingenuity: it does infinite mischief in one respect, and in 
another it is peculiarly important and useful, by destroying 
those vegetable or animal substances which encumber the 
earth, and are noxious on account of their putridity. The 
buildings (usually termed hills) which these insects erect, 
are in their general form like sugar-loaves, and about ten or 
twelve feet high; and consist of an exterior part, which is 
large and strong, intended partly for defence, and partly for 
preserving a regular degree of warmth in order to hatch the 
eggs and cherish the young; and an interior, which is the 
habitable part, divided into many apartments for the resi¬ 
dence of the king and queen, the nursing of their progeny, 
the accommodation of the soldiers and labourers, or maga¬ 
zines of provision. The royal chamber, in the interior 
building, or that occupied by the king and queen, is situated 
near the centre, and usually in the shape of a semi-oval 
within. 
In the infant state of the colony, it is not more than about 
an inch in length, but in time it is enlarged to six or eight 
inches in the clear, being in size adapted to that of the 
queen. It has doors or entrances, at pretty equal distances 
from each other, which entrances are of a size not to admit 
any animal larger than the soldiers and labourers: so that 
the king and queen, when once immured, can never go out. 
The royal chamber is surrounded by many others of different 
sizes, shapes, and dimensions; and they either open into 
each other, or communicate by passages suitably contrived. 
These apartments are connected with the magazines, formed 
altogether of clay, and nurseries. The provisions lodged in 
the former appear, by the microscope, to consist principally 
of the gums or inspissated juices of plants. The nurseries 
are composed entirely of wooden materials, joined together 
apparently with gum 6 . These nurseries are occupied by the 
eggs, and young insects, which appear at first in the shape 
of labourers, but white as snow. They are very compact, 
and divided into small chambers, not one of which is to be 
found of half an inch in width. They are placed round and 
near the royal apartments. As the queen enlarges, her 
chamber is also enlarged; and new apartments are fitted up 
for her attendants; and also new nurseries at a remoter dis¬ 
tance. Thus, says Mr. Smeathman, they continually en¬ 
large their apartments, pull down, repair, and rebuild, ac¬ 
cording to their wants, with a degree of sagacity t regularity, 
and foresight, not even imitated by any other kind of ani¬ 
mals or insects which he has ever heard of. These nurseries 
are always found slightly overgrown with or plentifully 
sprinkled with small white globules, about the size of a 
small pin’s head, first supposed to be the eggs, but found by 
the microscope to be small mushrooms. The royal cham¬ 
ber is situated at about a level with the surface of the ground, 
at an equal distance from all the sides of the building, and 
in every direction surrounded by the apartments of labourers 
or soldiers, for the purpose of attendance. These apart¬ 
ments compose an intricate labyrinth, extending a foot or 
more in diameter, from the royal chamber on every side. 
Here the nurseries and magazines of provisions commence, 
and being separated by small empty chambers or galleries, 
are 
