INSECTS
female corresponds with the "queen" in a hive of bees; but, unlike the queen bee, the queen termite allows the "king" termite to live with her throughout her life in the community.
It appears, then, that the termite community is a complex society of castes, for we must now add to the worker and soldier castes the two castes of potentially reproductive individuals, and the "royal" or actual producing caste, consisting of the king and the queen. We are thus introduced to a social state quite different from anything known in our own civilization, for, though we may have castes, the distinctions between them are largely matters of polite concession by the less aspiring members of the community. We theoretically claim that we are all born equal. Though we know that this is but a gratifying illusion, our inequalities at least do not go by recognized caste. A termite, however, is literally born into his place in society and eventually has his caste insignia indelibly stamped in the structure of his body. This state of affairs upsets all our ideas and doctrines of the fundamental naturalness and rightness of democracy; and, if it is true that nature not only recognizes castes but creates them, we must look more closely into the affairs of the termite society to see how such things may come about.
Let us go back to the swarm of winged males and females that have issued from the nest. The birds are already feeding upon them, for the termites' powers of flight are at best feeble and uncertain. The winds have scattered them, and in a short time the fluttering horde will be dispersed and probably most of its members will be destroyed one way or another. The object of the swarming, however, is the distribution of the insects, and, if a few survive, that is all that will be necessary for the continuance of the race. When the fluttering insects alight they no longer have need of their wings, and by brushing against objects, or by twisting the body until
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