Insects abroad : being a popular account of foreign insects, their structure, habits, and transformations . Fig. 1S3.— Termes dims.(Pale brown.) Male 380 1NSKCTS ABROAD. wheu they both liing off their wings, jerking them forward witha javelin-sort of twitching movement. Then they move off tosome sheltered locality; and if they can find a spot where thereis some moist earth, they immediately begin to burrow in it. Thus is begun the new colony, and in a short time the foun-dress attains the most enormous dimensions. Her head, thorax,and legs remain unchanged, but the abdomen swells to such asize
Insects abroad : being a popular account of foreign insects, their structure, habits, and transformations . Fig. 1S3.— Termes dims.(Pale brown.) Male 380 1NSKCTS ABROAD. wheu they both liing off their wings, jerking them forward witha javelin-sort of twitching movement. Then they move off tosome sheltered locality; and if they can find a spot where thereis some moist earth, they immediately begin to burrow in it. Thus is begun the new colony, and in a short time the foun-dress attains the most enormous dimensions. Her head, thorax,and legs remain unchanged, but the abdomen swells to such asize that the creature looks very much as if the head and limbsof a Termite had been attached to the end of a hens egg. Solarge an insect requires a dwelling of corresponding size, andaccordingly she is enclosed in a cell made of clay, the interior or I u I II VTt.^ Wl. I nTTTT Fio. 184.—Tnrmeti dims. Female.(Pale brown, witn grey-white abdomen.) which is widened by degrees in order to accommodate her in-creasing dimensions. It may seem somewhat of a hardship thatshe should be thus left a prisoner, but in fact there is no hard-ship at all, for her body is so enormous that her legs could notmove it even if she were at perfect liberty. She, like the queen-bee, has but one business in life ; namely,to lay eggs, which she does perpetually, their numbers beingcounted not only by tens of thousands, but by millions. It isevident that, as she cannot move, she is unable to do what thequeen-bee does ; namely, deposit the eggs in the spots where theyare wanted. It is also evident that she cannot go in search offood, and must therefore be dependent on others. Now, theTermite colony consists of various ranks, if one may so term THE TERMITE QUEEN. 381 them, which may be roughly divided into three distinct come the queen and her consort, and all those
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1883
