. A manual of zoology. Zoology. 478 ARTHROPODA. The Arcbiptera were formerly united with the Neuroptera on account of similarities of wings. The separation is due to cliaracters of mouth parts and development. Sub Order I. CORRODENTIA. Larvse distinguished from the im- agines by difference in size and, in the winged forms, by lack of wings. Best known are tlie TermitidtE (Isoptera), or white ants, which must not be confused with the true ants (Hymenoptera), from whicn they are dis- tinguished by the similar body segments, the mouth parts, and the simple development. Like the true ants, they ha
. A manual of zoology. Zoology. 478 ARTHROPODA. The Arcbiptera were formerly united with the Neuroptera on account of similarities of wings. The separation is due to cliaracters of mouth parts and development. Sub Order I. CORRODENTIA. Larvse distinguished from the im- agines by difference in size and, in the winged forms, by lack of wings. Best known are tlie TermitidtE (Isoptera), or white ants, which must not be confused with the true ants (Hymenoptera), from whicn they are dis- tinguished by the similar body segments, the mouth parts, and the simple development. Like the true ants, they have a well-developed social state. A colony of termites, consisting usually of thousands of individuals, forms a nest with numerous chambers and passages. They are nocturnal, and they burrow, without coming to the surface, through old wood (timbers of houses, furniture, picture frames, dead wood in the forest, etc.). They line these chambers with a cement-like substance composed of refuse which has passed through the alimentary canal. Many species build dome-like nests, ten or fifteen feet high, fifteen to twenty or twenty-five feet across, of chewed earth. In a colony are winged and wingless individuals, the latter with ametabolous development (fig. 506). The wingless forms have the sexual organs rudimentary, but, in contrast to ants and bees, may belong to either sex. They are frequently blind, have strong mandibles, and are of two kinds, the workers (c) and the large-headed soldiers (d). The winged forms are sexually functional (6). Shortly after the metamor- phosis they swarm, and then the wings are bitten off at the base and ' king' and ' queen' either form a new colony or enter one already in existence. After copulation the abdomen of the queen, by the formation of numerous eggs, swells to an enormous size (e). Since the swarming. Fia. .'JOe.— T'eT-mra/;<,,* white ant. (From ,i, larva.; werlit'i-; ((, siililier ; i\ ruieeri'; /, ]mpa. /), winffed male
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