Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/82

 become winged insects. The workers and soldiers feed on decayed wood and other vegetable substances; I could not clearly ascertain what the young fed upon, but they are seen of all sizes, larvæ and pupæ, huddled together in the same cells, with their heads converging towards the bottom, and I thought I sometimes detected the workers discharging a liquid from their mouths into the cells. The growth of the young family is very rapid, and seems to be completed within the year: the greatest event of Termite life then takes place, namely, the coming of age of the winged males and females, and their exit from the hive.

It is curious to watch a Termitarium when this exodus is taking place. The workers are set in the greatest activity, as if they were aware that the very existence of their species depended on the successful emigration and marriages of their brothers and sisters. They clear the way for their bulky but fragile bodies, and bite holes through the outer walls for their escape. The exodus is not completed in one day, but continues until all the males and females have emerged from their pupa integuments, and flown away. It takes place on moist, close evenings, or on cloudy mornings: they are much attracted by the lights in houses, and fly by myriads into chambers, filling the air with a loud rustling noise, and often falling in such numbers that they extinguish the lamps. Almost as soon as they touch ground they wriggle off their wings, to aid which operation there is a special provision in the structure of the organs, a seam running across near their roots and dividing the horny nervures. To prove that this singular mutilation was