As with ants, war is also waged between the various species of Termitidæ. _Termes lucifuga_, for instance—for where there is no English name there is nothing for it but to speak Latin—is, though much smaller, a terrible enemy of _Calotermes_. The soldiers of the latter can, indeed, without much difficulty, cut their own in two, but their greater activity is often more than a match for the superior strength of their opponents. The workers are more easily disposed of, but with these the soldiers of _Calotermes_ do not often concern themselves. They are left to the nymphs[4] and larvæ, the equivalents, with the latter species, of a true worker caste which has not yet been developed amongst them, as it has with others of the family. When Professor Grassi placed a worker of Termes in one of his Calotermite tube-nests[5] it was at once placed _hors de combat_ by a nymph (somewhat a shrewish one) of the latter, which, rushing upon it, cut off a portion of its mouth. Other nymphs, as well as several large larvæ, then hurried up and proceeded to further the good work by severing the unfortunate creature’s legs, and tearing open its abdomen. In all this the soldiers took no part until one, towards the end of the struggle, advanced and added his single bite to those which had been so plentifully bestowed. Similar observations were made upon various other occasions, from which it appears plain that, as before remarked, the soldiers of this—very probably of all the termites—are accustomed, purposely, to reserve their strength for foemen worthy of their steel. It will be seen from the above account that termites differ from true ants in one very important particular, namely, that they are as active and free-moving in the larval and pupal states as in the mature, or imago, one. “The termite society,” indeed, “consists, for the most part, of wingless sexually immature individuals, children potentially of both sexes, which do not grow up.”[6] Out of the majority of these the worker caste, when it exists, is formed, whilst a much lesser number develop into the large-headed, long-jawed soldiers. Both of these castes, apparently, are produced independently of sex, that is to say, they are potentially either males or females, and not composed exclusively, as is the case with ants and bees, of undeveloped females. Only the genuine king and queen of the termitary would seem to have attained the true imago state; such substitute royal forms as the workers, by feeding the larvæ with saliva, are able to produce, retaining larval characteristics, though sexually mature—a phenomenon scientifically known as _neoteinia_. As with the bees, these potential future royalties are bred up by the working termites to meet possible future emergencies. They are never allowed to leave the nest, and, should any accident befall the reigning king and queen, a pair of them are chosen to rule and produce offspring. ----- Footnote 1: The Concise Natural History, p. 551. Footnote 2: