Fig. 27.—White Ants, Eutermes morio, from Pernambuco, twice the natural size. A, Soldier; B, Worker; C, Young male; D, Female.
The white ants, so destructive in tropical climates, are not true ants, but belong to a different order. These also live in colonies; like the bees, they have an egg-laying queen. She has a partner, the king. There are neuter soldiers and neuter workers, both wingless, while the male and female have wings, afterwards lost.
Fig. 28.—Cocoons of Moths. A, Compound Cocoon of Cœnodomuc hockingi, from India, one-half natural size; B, of a Silkworm, Bombyx Japonica, one-half natural size; C, of Green-shaded Honey Moth; D, of Death's Head Moth, one-quarter natural size; E, of Metura Savendersii, from New South Wales, natural size; F, of Castnia Endesmia, from Chili, one-sixth of the natural size; G, of Attacus attas from Bombay, one-fourth of the natural size.
The Lepidoptera or butterflies and moths receive their name, Scaly-winged, from the beautiful microscopic scales with which their wings are covered. [Fig. 28] shows the cocoons which the larvæ of some of the moths make for themselves in which to pass their pupa stage. Some are made wholly of silk, others of dried leaves woven together. [Fig. 29] shows a Moth with its caterpillar, cocoon, and chrysalis. The threads of which a caterpillar weaves its cocoon are familiarly exemplified in the silk of commerce. The caterpillar, in some cases, is gregarious, and builds a common nest ([Fig. 30]).
