Page:Insects - Their Ways and Means of Living.djvu/179



others reared above the surface, and still others built against the trunks or branches of trees. Different species employ different building materials in the construction of their nests. Some use particles of earth, sand grains, or clay; others use earth mixed with saliva; still others make use of the partly digested wood pulp ejected from their bodies; and some use mixed materials. Certain kinds of tropical termites, moreover, have foraging habits.

Fro. 8 5. Vertical section of an underground nest of an African termite, Terme« badius. (From Hegh, after Fuller) The large central chamber is the principal "fungus garden"; in the wall at the left is the royal chamber (rc); tunnels lead from the main part of the nest to smaller chambers containing fungus, and to the small mounds at the surface

Great armies of workers of these species leave the nests, even in broad daylight, and march in wide columns guarded by the soldiers to the foraging grounds, where they gather bits of leaves, dead stems, or lichens, and return laden with provender for home consumption. The underground nests (Fig. 8 5) consist chiefly of a

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INSECTS