Considerable difference of opinion has prevailed as to the allies of these obscure Insects. It would seem that they are most nearly allied to Termitidae and Psocidae. Grassi, however, considers these affinities only remote, and suggests that Embiidae should form a separate Order, to be placed in a super-Order Orthoptera, which would include our Aptera, the two families mentioned above, Mallophaga, Embiidae, and the ordinary Orthoptera. Brauer places the family in his Orthoptera genuina. {356}CHAPTER XVI NEUROPTERA _CONTINUED_—TERMITIDAE, TERMITES OR WHITE ANTS FAM. III. TERMITIDAE—WHITE ANTS, TERMITES. [Illustration: FIG. 225.—_Termes_ (_Hodotermes_) _mossambicus_. Winged adult. (After Hagen.)] _Each species is social, and consists of winged and wingless individuals. The four wings are, in repose, laid flat on the back, so that the upper one only is seen except just at the bases; they are membranous and very elongate, so that they extend far beyond the apex of the abdomen; the hind pair is remarkably similar in size, form, and consistence to the front pair: near the base of each wing there is a suture, or line of weakness, along which the wings can be broken off, the stumps in that case remaining as short horny flaps reposing on the back. Ligula channelled but not divided into two parts. The wingless individuals are very numerous, and have the head and thirteen body segments distinct; the body {357}is terminated by a pair of short cerci. The metamorphosis is slight and gradual, and in some individuals is dispensed with._ The term White Ants has been so long in use for the Termitidae that it appears almost hopeless to replace it in popular use by another word. It has, however, always given rise to a great deal of confusion by leading people to suppose that white ants differ chiefly from ordinary ants by their colour. This is a most erroneous idea. There are scarcely any two divisions of Insects more different than the white ants and the ordinary ants. The two groups have little in common except that both have a social life, and that a very interesting analogy exists between the forms of the workers and soldiers of these two dissimilar Orders of Insects, giving rise to numerous analogies of habits. The word Termites—pronounced as two syllables—is a less objectionable name for these Insects than white ants.