Page:Insects - Their Ways and Means of Living.djvu/162

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INSECTS

the latter for information. Here we will look more closely into the lives of the termites themselves to see what lessons we may learn from these creatures that have adopted something of our own way of living.

When a termite nest is broken open, it does not appear that there is much of an organization among the insects

Fig. 77. Reticulitermes flavipes (much enlarged)

A, a mature worker. B, a mature soldier. C, a young termite. D, an immature winged form

hurrying to take refuge in the recesses of the galleries, but neither when a bomb strikes one of out own dwellings is there probably much evidence of order within. The most casual observation of the termites, however, will

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