Page:Insects - Their Ways and Means of Living.djvu/170



never express surprise when dealing with insects; and for the present we must accept the strange deve[opment of the young termites as a matter of fact, and pass on. During the middle of winter things remain thus in the new family colonv. The members of termite species that lire in the ground, or that pass from wood into the ground, probably have tunneled deep into the earth for

Flc. 8. A queen oi r the third form, or wingless re- productive caste, of Reti- culitermes flaipes. (From Banks and Snyder)

protection flore the cold. But in February, the mother termite, now the queen of the brood, responds again to the urge of maternity with some more eggs, probably with a greater nt, mber this rime than on the first occasion. A month later, or during March, the termitary is once more enlivened with young termites. The king and the queen are now, however, relieved of the routine of nursery duties by the workers of the first brood. The latter take over the feeding and care of their new brothers and sisters, and also do all the excava- tion work involved in the enlarging of the home. In the spring the termites as- cend to the st, rface of the ground beneath a board or log, or at the base of a stump, and reoccupy their former habitation. As the galleries are extended, the family moves along, slowly migrating thus

to uneaten parts of the wood and leaving the old tunnels behind them mostly packed with excreted wood-pt, lp and earth. When June comes again, the young family may consist of several dozen individuals; but all, except the king and

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