in entomology; a genus of insects belonging to the order of aptera, according to Linnaeus, but by others it is arranged more properly under the neuroptera. The mouth has two horny jaws; the lip is horny and quadrifid, the laciniæ being linear and acute; there are four feelers, which are equal and filiform. The antennæ are moniliform in most species, and the eyes two. There are eight species, according to Gmelin; the fatales, defluctores, ardes, moradas, capenses, fatidicum, pulsatiorum, and divinatorium. But as Gmelin has followed the classification of Linnaeus in arranging the termes under the order of aptera, it is not improbable that several of these which are mentioned as species of the termes may belong to a different genus. It will be sufficient, in the present article, to describe the fatale, which we are enabled to do from very accurate information.

The termes fatales, bellicosus, or white ant, is of a yellow colour above; the wings also yellowish; the coxa is ferruginous; the stemmata are near the eyes, the central point being somewhat prominent. Of the white ant we have a very curious and interesting description, in the Philosophical According to this account, the works of these insects surpass those of the bees, wasps, beavers, and other animals, as much at least as those of the most polished European nations excel those of the least cultivated savages. And even with regard to man, his greatest works, the boasted pyramids, fall comparatively far short, even in size alone, of the structures raised by these insects. The labourers among them employed in this service are not a quarter of an inch in length; but the structures which they erect rise to 10 or 12 feet and upwards above the surface of the earth. Supposing the height of a man to be six feet, the author calculates, that the buildings of these insects may be considered, relatively to their size and that of a man, as being raised to near five times the height of the greatest of the Egyptian pyramids; that is, corresponding with considerably more than half a mile. We may add, that, with respect to the interior construction, and the various members and dispositions of the parts of the building, they appear greatly to exceed that or any other work of human construction.

The most striking parts of these structures are, the royal apartments, the nurseries, magazines of provisions, arched chambers and galleries, with their various communications; the ranges of Gothic-shaped arches, projected, and not formed by mere excavation, some of which are two or three feet high, but which diminish rapidly, like the arches of aisles in perspectives; the various roads, sloping staircases, and bridges, consisting of one vast arch, and constructed to shorten the distance between the several parts of the building, which would otherwise communicate only by winding passages. In some parts near Senegal, their number, magnitude, and closeness of situation, make them appear like the villages of the natives. But these and many other curious instances of the great sagacity and powers of these insects cannot be understood, without viewing the plates in which their feeble frames, and comparatively stupendous works, are delineated. See Phil. Trans. above referred to.

The economy of these industrious insects appears to have been very attentively observed by the ingenious author, as well as their buildings. There are three distinct ranks or orders among them, constituting a well-regulated community. These are, first, the labourers, or working insects; next the soldiers, or fighting order, who do no kind of labour, and are about twice as long as the former, and equal in bulk to about 15 of them; and lastly, the winged or perfect insects, which may be called the nobility or gentry of the state; for they neither labour nor fight, being scarcely capable even of self-defence. "These only are capable of being elected kings or queens; and nature has so ordered it, that they emigrate within a few weeks after they are elevated to this state, and either establish new kingdoms, or perish within a day or two."

The first order, the working insects, are most numerous, being in the proportion of 100 to 1 of the soldiers. In this state they are about ¼ of an inch long, and 25 of them weigh about a grain, so that they are not so large as some of our ants. See Plate Dl. fig. 1. and 2.

The second order, or soldiers, have a very different form from the labourers, and have been by some authors supposed to be the males, and the former neuters; but they are, in fact, the same insects as the foregoing, only they have undergone a change of form, and approached one degree nearer to the perfect state. They are now much larger, being half an inch long, and equal in bulk to fifteen of the labourers, (fig. 3. and 4.)

The third order, or the insect in its perfect state, varies its form still more than ever. The head, thorax, and abdomen, differ almost entirely from the same parts in the labourers and soldiers; and, besides this, the animal is now furnished with four fine large brownish transparent wings, with which it is at the time of emigration to wing its way in search of a new settlement. It differs so much from the other two, that they have not hitherto been supposed to belong to the same community. In fact, they are not to be discovered in the nest till just before the commencement of the rainy season; when they undergo the last change, which is preparative to the formation of new colonies. They are equal in bulk to two soldiers and about 30 labourers (see fig. 5.), and by means of the wings with which they are furnished they roam about for a few hours; at the end of which time they lose their wings, and become the prey of innumerable birds, reptiles, and insects; while probably not a pair out of many millions of this unhappy race get into a place of safety, fulfil the first law of nature, and lay the foundation of a new community. In this state many fall into the neighbouring waters, and are eaten with avidity by the Africans. The author found them delicate, nourishing, and wholesome, without sauce or other help from cookery than merely roasting them in the manner of coffee.

The few fortunate pairs who happen to survive this annual massacre and destruction, are represented by the author as being casually found by some of the labourers, that are continually running about on the surface of the ground, and are elected kings and queens of new states. Those who are not so elected and preferred certainly perish, and most probably in the course of the following day. By these industrious creatures the king and queen elect are immediately protected from their innumerable enemies, by inclosing them in a chamber of clay; where the business of propagation soon commences. Their "voluntary subjects" then bury themselves in constructing wooden nurseries, or apartments entirely composed of wooden materials, seemingly joined together with gums. Into these they afterwards carry the eggs produced from the queen, lodging them there as fast as they can obtain them from her. The author even furnishes us with plausible reasons to believe, that they here form a kind of garden for the cultivation of a species of microscopic mushroom; which Mr König (in an Essay on the East Indian Termites, read before the Society of Naturalists of Berlin) conjectures to be the food of the young insects. But perhaps the most wonderful, and at the same time best authenticated, part of the history of these singular insects, is that which relates to the queen or mother of the community in her pregnant state.

After impregnation, a very extraordinary change begins to take place in her person, or rather in her abdomen only. It gradually increases in bulk, and at length becomes of such an enormous size as to exceed the bulk of the rest of her body 1500 or 2000 times. She becomes 1000 times heavier than her consort, and exceeds 20,000 or 30,000 times the bulk of one of the labourers. In this state, the matrix has a constant peristaltic or undulating motion; the consequence of which is (as the author has counted them) (fig. 8.) the protrusion of 8,000 eggs in 24 hours.

These eggs, says the author, "are instantly taken from her body by her attendants (of whom there always are, in the royal chamber and the galleries adjacent, a sufficient number in waiting) and carried to the nurseries, which are sometimes four or five feet distant in a straight line.—Here, after they are hatched, the young are attended and provided with every thing necessary, until they are able to shift for themselves, and take their share of the labours of the community."

Many curious and striking particulars are related of the great great devastations committed by this powerful community; which construct roads, or rather covered ways, diverging in all directions from the nest, and leading to every object of plunder within their reach. Though the mischiefs they commit are very great, such is the economy of nature, that it is probably counterbalanced by the good produced by them; in quickly destroying dead trees and other substances, which, as the author observes, would, by a tedious decay, serve only to encumber the face of the earth. Such is their alacrity and dispatch in this office, that the total destruction of deserted towns is so effectually accomplished, that in two or three years a thick wood fills the space; and not the least vestige of a house is to be discovered.

From the many singular accounts here given of the police of these insects, we shall mention one respecting the different functions of the labourers and soldiers, or the civil and military establishments in this community, on an attempt to examine their nest or city.

On making a breach in any part of the structure with a hoe or pick-axe, a soldier immediately appears, and walks about the breach, as if to see whether the enemy is gone, or to examine whence the attack proceeds. In a short time he is followed by two or three others, and soon afterwards by a numerous body, who rush out as fast as the breach will permit them; their numbers increasing as long as any one continues to batter the building. During this time they are in the most violent battle and agitation; while some of them are employed in beating with their forceps upon the building, so as to make a noise that may be heard at three or four feet distance. On ceasing to disturb them, the soldiers retire, and are succeeded by the labourers, who hasten in various directions towards the breach, each with a burden of mortar in his mouth ready tempered. Though there are millions of them, they never stop or embarrass each other; and a wall gradually arises that fills up the chasm. A soldier attends every 600 or 1000 of the labourers, seeming as a director of the works; for he never touches the mortar, either to lift or carry it. One in particular places himself close to the wall which they are repairing, and frequently makes the noise above mentioned; which is constantly answered by a loud hiss from all the labourers within the dome: and at every such signal, they evidently redouble their pace, and work as fast again.

The work being completed, a renewal of the attack consequently produces the same effects. The soldiers again rush out, and then retreat, and are followed by the labourers loaded with mortar, and as active and diligent as before.

Thus, says the author, the pleasure of seeing them come out to fight or to work alternately may be obtained as often as curiosity excites or time permits; and it will certainly be found, that the one order never attempts to fight, or the other to work, let the emergency be ever so great. The obstinacy of the soldiers is remarkable. "They fight to the very last, disputing every inch of ground so well as often to drive away the negroes, who are without shoes, and make white people bleed plentifully through their stockings."

Such is the strength of the buildings erected by these puny insects, that when they have been raised to little more than half their height, it is always the practice of the wild bulls to stand as sentinels upon them, while the rest of the herd is ruminating below. When at their full height of 10 or 12 feet, they are used by the Europeans as places to look out from over the top of the grass, which here grows to the height of 13 feet upon an average. The author has stood with four men on the top of one of these buildings, in order to get a view of any vessel that might come in sight.

It may appear surprising how a Being perfectly good should have created animals which seem to serve no other end but to spread destruction and desolation wherever they go. But let us be cautious in suspecting any imperfection in the Father of the Universe. What at first sight may seem only productive of mischief, will, upon mature deliberation, be found worthy of that wisdom which planned the most beautiful parts of the world. Many poisons are valuable medicines; the storms are beneficial; and diseases often promote life. These termites, indeed, are frequently pernicious to mankind, but they are also very useful and even necessary; one valuable purpose which they serve is, to destroy decayed trees and other substances, which, if left on the surface of the ground in hot climates, would in a short time pollute the air. In this respect they resemble very much the common flies, which are regarded by mankind in general as noxious, and at best as useless beings in the creation; but this is certainly for want of consideration. There are not probably in all nature animals of more importance; and it would not be difficult to prove, that we should feel the want of one or two species of large quadrupeds much less than of one or two species of these despicable-looking insects. Mankind in general are sensible that nothing is more disagreeable, or more pestiferous, than putrid substances; and it is apparent to all who have made observation, that these little insects contribute more to the quick dissolution and dispersion of putrefactive matter than any other. They are so necessary in all hot climates, that even in the open fields a dead animal or small putrid substance cannot be laid upon the ground two minutes before it will be covered with flies and their maggots, which instantly entering quickly devour one part, and perforating the rest in various directions, expose the whole to be much sooner dissipated by the elements. Thus it is with the termites; the rapid vegetation in hot climates, of which no idea can be formed by anything to be seen in this, is equalled by as great a degree of destruction from natural as well as accidental causes (A). It seems apparent, that when any thing whatever is arrived at its last degree of perfection, the Creator has decreed it shall be totally destroyed as soon as possible, that the face of nature may be speedily adorned with fresh productions in the bloom of spring or the pride of summer; so when trees, and even woods, are in part destroyed by tornadoes or fire, it is wonderful to observe how many agents are employed in halting the total dissolution of the rest; but in the hot climates there are none so expert, or who do their business so expeditiously and effectually, as these insects, who in a few weeks destroy and carry away the bodies of large trees, without leaving a particle behind, thus clearing the place for other vegetables, which soon fill up every vacancy; and in places where two or three years before there has been a populous town, if the inhabitants, as is frequently the case, have chosen to abandon it, there shall be a very thick wood, and not the vestige of a post to be seen, unless the wood has been of a species which, from its hardness, is called iron wood.

(A) The Guinea grass, which is so well known and so much esteemed by our planters in the West Indies, grows in Africa, as we have already mentioned, thirteen feet high upon an average, which height it attains in about five or six months; and the growth of many other plants is as quick. Fig. 1. represents a labourer. Fig. 2. a labourer magnified. Fig. 3. a soldier. Fig. 4. a soldier, forceps, and part of his head magnified. Fig. 5. a perfect termes belli- catus. Fig. 6. the head of a perfect insect magnified. Fig. 7. a head with stemmata magnified. Fig. 8. a queen. Fig. 9. a king. Fig. 10. is a section of the building raised by these insects, as it would appear on being cut down through the middle from the top a foot lower than the surface of the ground. AA, an horizontal line from A at the bottom, will intersect each other at the royal chamber. The darker shades near it are the empty apartments and passages, which it seems are left for the attendants on the king and queen, who, when old, may require near 100,000 to wait on them every day. The parts which are the least shaded and dotted are the nurseries surrounded, like the royal chamber, by empty passages, on all sides, for the more easy access to them with the eggs from the queen, the provision for the young, &c. N.B. The magazines of provisions are situated without any seeming order among the vacant passages which surround the nurseries. B, the top of the interior building, which often seems, from the arches carrying upward, to be adorned on the sides with pinnacles. C, the floor of the area or nave. DDD, the large galleries which ascend from under all the buildings spirally to the top. EE, the bridges.