David Sharp

“ King and Queen.—As a rule each community includes only a single pair of individuals apt for reproduction; these are the royal pair, or king and queen (fig. 4) . They are adult termites that have shed the wings they formerly possessed. The queen usually undergoes an extraordinary increase in the size of the abdomen, which may be distended to many hundred times its original capacity (fig. 4, A) . In many species the king and queen are confined in a royal cell, out of which they cannot move, though the workers, owing to their smaller size, can get in and out to tend them. ”

“ No species of termite has both mandibulate and nasute soldiers, although the reverse is sometimes still stated in books. The soldiers of some species are, however, dimorphic to the extent that larger and smaller forms occur in the same nest without intermediates. In other cases soldiers of simply variable size exist. The soldier is blind and wingless, though in a few soldiers minute wing-rudiments can be detected. As in the worker, the development of the sex organs is arrested, but both sexes are represented. ”

“ As the termite life is a family life, and as there is normally only a single pair of reproductive individuals in each community, it is easily comprehensible that if anything goes wrong with this pair, the community is at once thrown into a state of complete disorganization. ”

“ TERMITE, the name applied to a group of insects with four wings which are developed outside the body (a large proportion of the individuals become adult, however, without wings appearing at all) . The wings are of nearly one size, of long, narrow form, of paper-like consistence, and in repose are placed flat on the back of the insect so that only one wing shows. After a short time the wings are shed, and only small stumps remain as evidence of the individual being a winged form. The mouth has strong mandibles. ”

“ It is true that considerable difference of opinion exists as to when the distinction between soldier and worker first becomes evident, but all are agreed that it is not till after the growth is to some extent accomplished. ”

“ Another point on which extremely diverse opinions are expressed is the copula of the sexes. It is usually stated that the swarming of termites is analogous to that of bees and ants, in which groups of insects the conjunction of the sexes takes place at this period, and at this period only. In the termites the reverse is the case. The swarming is not at all a nuptial flight; indeed, at that time the sexes are not apt for reproduction. Copulation only takes place after a pair have cast their wings and have established themselves together. ”

“ In other cases the queen only is so imprisoned, the king being able to leave the cell. In still other cases neither king nor queen is effectually imprisoned. Much discrepancy of opinion exists as to the invariable presence of a king in each nest; this, however, is explained by Haviland's observation that the king is active and timid, and when a nest is opened seeks safety by running away and concealing himself, so that he is sometimes only discovered when the very last fragment of the nest is brought under scrutiny. ”

“ Grassi has found juvenile specimens that have already assumed the soldier form, although they possess the rudiments of wings. It appears from his observations that the worker may be considered as a form with arrested development, and the soldier as a form with arrested and much diverted development, while the neoteinic forms are individuals in which the reproductive organs are perfectly developed, while some of the bodily structures have suffered arrest of development and even some amount of atrophy. ”

“ Termitaria.—There is nothing in which termites display more variety than in their dwellings. These are sometimes not constructions at all. The primitive Calotermes flavicollis—in which there is no worker—frequently inhabits rotten places in trees; at most it increases these a little by excavation, and modifies the passages by slight and imperfect barricades. In the case of this species the community never attains a greater number than one thousand individuals, and even this is comparatively rare. ”

“ This question is the more important as two of the castes (the worker and soldier) do not at all resemble their parents. Grassi, from an examination of the individuals of a large number of nests of Termes lucifugus, arrived at the conclusion that all start as undifferentiated larvae, and that the regular development of Termes up to the perfect insect may undergo a deviation at various periods of life leading to the formation of workers, of neoteinic forms, or of soldiers, the last passing through the stage of the young worker. ”

“ The soldier termite is the most extraordinary feature of termite biology It is more varied than any of the other castes, so that most of the species of termites can be best distinguished by their soldiers. The chief feature of the soldier is an extraordinary development of the head, or of the head and mandibles. ”

“ The colour too is different, the young being milky-white, whereas the adult worker is variously pigmented according to its species, but is never milky-white. The worker is generally blind, and in only a few species does it possess rudimentary eyes. The species of the group Calolermitides have no workers. In the other species the workers look after the eggs and young, and perform most, if not all, of the industrial work of the community. ”

“ They now constitute with the Embiidæ—a small and obscure family—the order Isoptera, of which about 300 species are known. Termites are more widely known as white ants, but as they are extremely different from true ants, and as they are rarely white, this designation is very deceptive, and should be abandoned.
Termites are found only in warm climates, where they are sometimes very destructive. They are vegetarian, but occasionally eat, or destroy, dry animal matter. The basis of their alimentary regimen is woody matter. Some of them make use of fungi growing in their abodes as food ”

“ When a termite wishes food it strokes the body of another individual with its antennae, and the specimen thus caressed exudes from the posterior or from the anterior part of the body a drop of matter, which is eaten by the hungry one. ”

“ As regards the forms, or castes, termites differ totally from other social insects; in the latter case there are great differences between the males and females, and the whole of the castes are of the female sex, whereas in termites the males and females are extremely similar, and the castes are in no way correlative with sex. ”

“ The sexes are in termites extremely similar in external characters. When the young are hatched they all appear nearly exactly alike, though on careful examination the sexes can be distinguished But no other difference than that of sex can be detected. In the article Ant in the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica it was stated that “the distinction between soldier and worker can be easily seen in the egg.” ”

“ The sexual organs do not undergo development, but it has been satisfactorily ascertained that both sexes are represented amongst the workers. In certain species the workers seem to be dimorphic, so far as size is concerned, but this point has apparently been only very inadequately considered. Workers form a very large but variable proportion of the members of a community. ”

“ In other species the bereavement is made good by means of neoteinic instead of normal individuals, and in certain species neoteinic forms are abundantly found. In the case of substitution forms there is usually more than one pair present in a colony, and sometimes numerous pairs exist. ”

“ He attributes this deviation, which may take place at various periods, to the influence of food, and attaches special importance to the salivary food. The soldiers have no wings; nevertheless a larva, or young nymph that has the rudiments of wings, can be made into a soldier. ”

“ The nasute soldiers emit a fluid from the tip of the rostrum, and dab it upon their enemies with some skill. Soldiers are present in all species of termites except the South American genus Anoplotermes. ”

“ The mandibulate soldiers use their heads as blocks to stop gaps in the nests, and employ terrifying but somewhat theatrical devices, making threatening motions and producing noises by movements of the head and thorax. ”