. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. 298 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD two entrances, one above the other, so that the insect can pass in and out witli perfect ease, The May-fi)' is also remarkable for the fact that the perfect insect changes its skin shortly after reaching maturity. Before this change takes place the female insect is the " Green Drake " of the angler ; afterwards, the " Grey ;' To this group belong also the TERMITES, or " White Ants," so exceedingly numerous in almos
. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. 298 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD two entrances, one above the other, so that the insect can pass in and out witli perfect ease, The May-fi)' is also remarkable for the fact that the perfect insect changes its skin shortly after reaching maturity. Before this change takes place the female insect is the " Green Drake " of the angler ; afterwards, the " Grey ;' To this group belong also the TERMITES, or " White Ants," so exceedingly numerous in almost all the warmer parts of the world. These are social insects, living together in vast colonies, and making most wonderful nests, which consist of a vast and complicated scries of chambers and passages, sheltered beneath a turreted dome of cla}'. In the centre is the "royal cell," inhabited by the "king" and " queen," as the perfect male and female are called. These are \\ingcd when first they leave the pupal shell. But after taking a single flight, they snap oft" their wings, at the base, just as ants do; while for the rest of their lives they are absolute prisoners in the cell built around them b)' the workers. Shortly after this strange incarceration takes place, the body of the queen swells to a huge size, so that, to quote Professor Drummond, she becomes " a large, loathsome, c}-lindrical package, 2 or 3 inches long, in shape like a sausage, and as white as a ; She now begins to deposit eggs at the rate of several thousands in a day, which are at once carried off by the workers, to whom is entrusted the entire care of the helpless young. These workers, which are exceedingly numerous, also enlarge the nest from time to time, and construct tunnels of clay up the trunks and along the branches of trees, through which they may convey to the nurseries in security the gums and deca\'ing v>'ood for the nutriment of the young.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecad, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectzoology
