These perfect termites have well developed eyes; slender antennae composed of short, rounded, bead-like joints standing out in front of the rounded flattened head; and a short stout thorax fitting close against the elongate rounded abdomen. They are furnished with two pairs of similar, elongated, narrow wings of uniform width rounded at the tips, with primitive parallel neuration; these are loosely attached to the basal wing-flap by a cross suture, where they readily tear them across; when at rest they are laid flat over each other down the back, extending well beyond the tip of the body: the legs are short and stout. Their flight is feeble, and of the millions that swarm out and flutter away from the nest, probably not more than halfa-dozen couples are fortunate enough to get into a suitable place to found a fresh colony. [Illustration: =Fig. 8.=--Diagram of head of worker termite. Dorsal view, showing the jaws and mouth parts. _Coptotermes (Termes) lacteus_ (Froggatt). (“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)] [Illustration: =Fig. 9.=--_Coptotermes (Termes) lacteus_ (Froggatt). Fully developed female or Queen. (“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)] [Illustration: Plate II.--ORTHOPTERA. Family _Termitidae_. _Coptotermes (Termes) lacteus_ (Froggatt). 1. Male (wings closed). 2. Male (wings expanded). 3. Worker. 4. Nymph. 5. Soldier.] [Illustration: _Plate II.--ORTHOPTERA._] The next caste, that form the bulk of the life of the nest, are the workers, delicate soft white creatures with pale yellow, rounded, flattened heads; blind, but furnished with slender antennae; and a pair of short stout toothed jaws hidden by the labrum, and which in the course of their labours do such immense damage to all kinds of both native and imported timber. The third caste, also always present, are the soldiers, that simply act as guards for the whole nest, leaving all the work of building, feeding the young, and gathering supplies to the workers. In the fourth we have the Queen, which was originally one of the winged forms; after casting her wings she is impregnated, and while the head, thorax and appendages remain as before, the abdomen swells into a white cylindrical sack as thick as one’s little finger; the chitinous plates that once fitted close together are now widely separated and appear as narrow black bands. She is simply a mass of egg tubes; and, looked after and fed by the attendant workers, she devotes her life to laying eggs, which, like grains of sugar, are carried away and piled up by the workers in adjacent chambers under the nursery. From these eggs develop tiny white specks of matter that gradually develop by a regular series of moults into workers, soldiers, and immature winged forms; the latter have large rounded bodies and rounded wing pads representing the future wings. Supplementary Queens are sometimes found that have never gone through the winged stage; they