Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/76

 ference being the gradual acquisition of eyes and wings in the sexual individuals during the later stages of growth. Termites and true ants, in fact, belong to two widely dissimilar orders of insects, and the analogy between them is only a general one of habits. The mode of growth of Termites and the active condition of their younger stages (larva and pupa) make the constitution of their communities much more difficult of comprehension than that of ants; hence how many castes existed, and what sort of individuals they were composed of, if not males and females, have always been puzzles to naturalists in the absence of direct observation.

What a strange spectacle is offered to us in the organisation of these insect communities! Nothing analogous occurs amongst the higher animals. Social instincts exist in many species of mammals and birds, where numerous individuals unite to build common habitations, as we see in the case of weaver-birds and beavers; but the principle of division of labour, the setting apart of classes of individuals for certain employments, occurs only in human societies in an advanced state of civilisation. In all the higher animals there are only two orders of individuals as far as bodily structure is concerned, namely, males and females. The wonderful part in the history of the Termites is, that not only is there a rigid division of labour, but nature has given to each class a structure of body adapting it to the kind of labour it has to perform. The males and females form a class apart; they do no kind of work, but in the course of growth acquire