The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-08-09
The White Ant Ia mily.

The White Ant Family.
The TermltcS, or white ants, as they art
often called, though they have little affinity
! with the true ants, arc chiefly confined to The
tropics; some few Species however, eXtent
into the temperate regions. Like the bees
wasps. and ants, which live in society, the
termites are composed of three kiuds of indi
viduals-males, females, and what are termed
neuters or workers. The larvae nearly rcsem
bic the perfect insect, excepting that they
possess no wings. The pupT have rudiment
AIRY wings. The neuters differ from the males
and females in having no wings, in having
the body stouter, the head much longer and
provided with long jaws crossed at the
extremity; they are the first to make their
appearance when their hnbitation is disturbed
they will attack their asSaiants, and bite with
considerable strength. The negroes and
llottentots consider these insects great deli
ICacy They are destroyed with quick lime,
or more readily with arsenic, which is thrown
into their habitations
The fullest account we have of these re-
markable creatures, is that related by Smeath.
man, in the Philosophical Transactions, 1881.
They destroy all timber in buildings, all fur
niturc, and nothing escapes them but metal
or stone. They construct their nest with
covered galleries; and far surpass our Europ.
can ants, bees, wasps, or beavers, in the art of
building, and in sagacity and government.
There are several species, and some build
on the ground, Others on the branches of trees,
often at great hcighths- The largest species
(1emes beiltc0suS) il best known on the coast
of Africa. 1t erects immense buildings of
wellattempcred clay. In Senegal they re-
semble the villages of the natives, being ten
I,N,r 81,
and like very lage hay cocks Comparing
the size of the ants what three or four times
the heighth of Bunker Hill Monument would
be to us.
Every building consists of two parts, an
exterior dome and an interior divided into an
number departments. The exterior
is a protection from the weather and in the
interior reside the king and queen, and the
whole community, with magazines stored
with provisions and convenienCes. They
raise these immense structures in separate
-urrcts of the shape and size of sugar loaves,
and then fill it between till the dome is com.
pleted by joining the tops of the lofty turrcts
which they raise in the center They then
axe away the bases of the central turrets, and
apply the clay TO the construction Of the
interior,
The royal chamber is in the center, in the
shape of large oven. The entrances are 30
small, that the king and queen can never
cave it. Around it are apartments for sold
ers or attendants, and magazines filled with
rum and hardened juices Of plants. Among
hcsc are the nurseries for the eggs and young
Beneath are sewers TO carry off the water,
descending to the gravel here subterrancous
passages are carried horizontally to vast
like passages from old castles, from
which they emerge on any building or mer
handise they intend to attack. As they cqn
lot carry up perpcndiCulars, all the asccntS
md decents are made by spiral roads. For a
inside they construct ellipti
al bridges.
Their dcStruCtiveneSs is very methodiCal
hey destroy all the softer substances first, and
re particularly fond of pine boards, eating
way the entire inside, and leaving the sur
ace as thin as paper, y stake in the hedge
5 their sure prey, OF which they leave only |
he bark, and if the bark fall of the outside !
# beam, they cover it with their morter. so !
hat no one suspects an attack till the articles |
re handled or support gives way Fallen |
recs they perforatc in the same manner; and |
What appears to be a sound piece of timber |
'iten proves but shell which may be crushed |
~ the fingers, They seem aware that if their |
work is seen from without they will be dis !
Ill it is pcrpctrated. OF deserted houses or
illageS they leave not a vcstige in few
weeks.
The ravagcs of white ants continue to be |
IS destructive As when Smeathman described |
hem In the island of St Helena, the white |
nts were, it is supposed, accidentally intro !
luced from the coast of Guinea, about twenty |
ears since. jamestown was devastated, the |
athedIal and the books of the public library !
we're destroyed. Everything in the town |
made of wood was more or less injured, i'm |
'erilling the lives of large numbers of the |
our thousand inhabitants In the govern |
ncnt stores it was found that the most traces |
# the insects on the outside of the tin cases !
auSod very speedy Corr0>IOn of the metal |
nd enabled the insects 10 make their way in |
nj devour the contents, doing many thousand
pounds damage The Governor of ST Helena |
pplied to the Lords of the Admiralty for the
'cst mode of finding the ants nests, and de |
troyinS them; and also as TO the description 1
# timber which has proved to be the least /
uiceptibe of iniary from the insects. These |
questions being referred to General Hearsey
nd the chronological Society, it has been
Iecided that the nests must be sought in the
'lains; that If the ants once effected lodge
nent in the walls of a house, the walls /
themselves must bc taken down before /
he insects could bc got rid of Sleeping |
imber IN solution of quick-lime, |
vill prevent the attacks of the insects, and /
the timber with CreoSote or
'yroligenOuS acid has been found preserva- |
i've.
In western Australia. where white ants |
bound and destroy all buildings and furni- |
ure to great extent, the wood of the ma
logany tree has been found proof against the |
Ints attacks; while IN the Amazon country.
where the house wall consists OF posts. with |
crossed lathS filed up with mud and covered |
With lime aud cement, the houses il washed !