TERMITE (from Lat. termcs, tonnes, wood worm; connected with tercre, Gk. ve(petv, teirein, Lith. triti, trinti, ()Church Slay. trycti, trati, to rub). Any one of the insects of the order Isoptera, comprising those forms known as white ants. They are not at all related to the true ants, but their general appearance and the fact that they live in societies have given them the popular name. For an account of the community life and of the different castes of the termites, see INSECT, paragraph on Social Insects.
The order Isoptera, which is most numerously represented in the tropics, includes only the single family Termithhe, from which the com mon name 'termite' is derived. They undergo practically no transformation. The young when it hatches from the egg is an active, crawling creature with six legs, much resembling the adult except in size. A11 species are social, and the communities consist of both wingless and winged individuals. The males and females which are winged have very long membranous longitudinally veined wings which when in re pose lie fiat along the back, extending far beyond the tip of the abdomen. The hind wings are of nearly the same shape and size as the front wings, and across the base of each wing is a line of weakness indicating where the wing breaks off after the nuptial flight. The nests, which are often built of earth, are hard and persistent, and are sometimes more than 1•L feet high. These 'ant-hills' are divided into chambers and galleries, and there are generally two or three roofs within the dome-shaped interior. The thick walls are perforated by passages leading to the nurseries and storehouses. Termites sometimes attack the woodwork of houses and soon reduce the thickest timbers to a mere shell. Those species which use in trees sometimes construct nests of great size, like sugar casks, of particles of gnawed wood cemented together and so strongly attached to the branches as not to be shaken down even by vio lent storms.
In the United States there are comparatively few species, and only one ( Termcs Ilaripcs) which has a northward range. This is the com mon white ant found frequently living in the joists and other large timbers of houses. In these they make innumerable tunnels, running usually with the grain of the wood, so that, al though a great deal of the substance of the wood is devoured, the main longitudinal fibres support the building structure for a long time. In fact, their presence in many houses would not be noticed except for the spring flight of the winged males and females. This species is native to North America, although it was acci dentally introduced into Europe. A species
known as Termes lubiformans occurs in Texas, and makes tubes around the grass stems and stems of other plants, while their nests are placed deep in the ground.
The origin of a new termite colony occurs after the nuptial flight when the female's (queen's) wings break off; her body swells with eggs, grows enormously, and egg-laying commences. Unlike the true ants or any of the other social Hymenoptera, the young require very little care from the work ers. Just as with the true ants and other social insects, there are many termitophilous or guest insects to be found in the nests of termites. The damage done by termites in tropical regions is very great. In Central America it is almost im possible to erect wooden telegraph poles which will last for any length of time, as they are tun neled by these insects and fall very soon. Con sult: Sharp, Cambridge Natural History, vol. v. (London. 1895); Howard, The Insect Book (New York, 1902).
TERN (Dan. terna, Icel. Perna, tern), or SEA SWALLOW. One of a group, the Sternina'. of small gulls (q.v.), found in most parts of the world. and essentially gulls in habits and appearance. About 75 species are known, varying in size from the Caspian tern (Sterna tschegrara), which is nearly two feet long and four and one half feet across the wings, down to the dainty least tern (Sterna antillarum). which is only nine inches long. The typical color of the terns is blue-gray above, white beneath, and black on the crown, but one or two species are pure white, some are black and white, some sooty brown, and some almost wholly black. The 'common' tern is Sterna hirundo, abundant on the coasts of the Whole Northern Hemisphere and of Africa. It breeds locally on the coast and in the Nississippi Valley from the Gulf States to Greenland, but, owing to incessant persecution, it selects only unoccupied sandy islets for its breeding places, and from New Jersey to Naine its only resorts now are Gull Island, N. Y., and Penikese and Muskeget Islands, Mass. The Arc tic tern (Sterna paradivea) is very similar. Its egg is illustrated on the Colored Plate of EGGS OF AMERICAN GAME AND WATER BIRDS, and is typical of tern's eggs generally. The gull billed tern (Geloehelidonloam) of the South ern States, a cosmopolitan species: the roseate tern (Sterna Dougalli) of the Atlantic Coast; the sooty tern. or 'egg-bird,' of the West Indies (Sterna fuliginosa), also southern; and the ele gant tern (Sterna elegans) of the Pacific Coast from California southward, are the most inter esting among the 15 or 16 other North American species.