Page:Insects - Their Ways and Means of Living.djvu/164



weapon in many species of one termite family that the soldiers of these species have no need of jaws, and their mandibles have become rudimentary. In all cases, the military specialization of the soldiers has rendered them incapable of feeding themselves, and they must depend on the workers for food. In addition to the soldiers and the workers, there would probably be seen within the termite nest, at cer-

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F. 7 8. Two forms of defensive organs of termite soldler A, head of soldier of Termopsis, showing the highly developed mandibles (Md), and the great muscles within the head (admd) that close them. B, a soldier of Nasutitermes (from Banks and Snyder); the head has small jaws but is provided with a long snoutlike horn through which i ejected a gummy liquid used for defense

tain seasons of the year, many individuals (Fig. 77 D) that have small wing rudiments on their thoracic seg- ments. As the season advances, the wing pads of these individuals increase in length, until at last they become long, gauzy, fully-developed wings extending much beyond the tip of the body (Figs. 75 A, B, 79)- The color of the body also becomes darker, and finally blackish when the insects are mature. Then, on some particular day, the

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