Evening star., 1924-09-14

Termites live together in we'll or
ganized communities in wood, in the
ground, in mound nests or in tree
nests. They practically never see
the sunlight. and as result are
blind. A colony, like that of bees
and ants, consists of a large number
OF workers, and at least one pair Of
parent individuals. But the termite
colony differs from one of other So
cial insects in respect to the queen.
She is not boss. but shares equal
rights with her husband. The pair
stick together for life"
Eat Wood for Food.
The king and queen share the
royal cell in incipient colonies and
eat wood for food. They care for
the young until these have reached
the point where they can care for
themselves. Queens of the higher
types of termites attain a huge
size, become inactive, and sometimes
become imprisoned In their rooms
because they are too big to get
through the doors. They become
mere egglaying machines.
In addition to their natural food,
wood. all termites constantly lick
secretions from the bodies Of other
termites, sometimes becoming so
ravenous that a part OF a leg or wing
is bitten off. They are cannibals to
some extent, feeding on the bodies Of
dead or dying members of the colony.
So far as is known. no healthy mem
Der ever is killed for food. In order
to digest wood, the insects have great
colonies Of still smaller creatures,
protozoa. in their stomachs. In some
of the higher forms, however. these
protoZoa are absent, and the insects
are obliged to turn to more digestible
foods. II IS among such a group,
found in Java. that the gardeners oc-
cur. They actually cultivate little
beds OF mushrooms. according to Mr..
Snyder, aiding the growth in order to
secure food. In mature queens. the
jaw muscles become degenerated. due
to the fact that they are fed on
partly digested food. SO that they can
no longer live on a wood diet and
special delicacies have to be prepared
for their tables.
Forced to Underground Life.
The termites have been forced to
take to an underground life in order
to survive. AS a result they have lost
their sight. and are soft bodied. They
are poor fighters. Some keep a spe-
cial class of soldiers with specially
formed mandibles to do their fighting
for them. Others depend upon mu-
tual rallying to the flag in case Of
danger, and every citizen is liable to
be called for military service.
In addition to being subterranean
in habit, many termites build caron.
earthlike shelter tubes. when they
desire to come above ground or into
the open. That is, they carry earth,
their source Of protection and mois-
ture, with them above ground, over
stones and up tree trunks. They
always abandon colonies in wood that
have been disturbed. emigrating
through underground galleries. often
to considerable depths. These emil
grations also are made to avoid ex-
tremes in temperature and lack of
moisture, particularly in arid or cold
regions. Among one species the nest
often are architecturally perfect
Nests found on the Lower Congo
have regular system of ventilation
contrived with considerable in
genuity. The compass termite OF
Australia builds mounds orientated
exactly to the four directions.
Another species builds these mounds
with roofs SO strong that 1t is almost
impossible to break them, even IL a
wild bull stamps on them.