complete, we should meet with all stages in the development and specialization of the various grades of society amongst these insects—­at least the present state of our knowledge would seem to lead to such a conclusion as being much more feasible than the theory of special or sudden creation of the peculiarities of the race.  It is admitted that the termites are in many respects inferior in structure to the bees and wasps, whilst the white ants themselves are the superiors of their own order—­that of the Neuroptera.  That the termites preceded the bees and their neighbors, the common ants, in the order of development of social instincts, is a conclusion supported by the fact that the Neuroptera form the first group of insects which are preserved to us in the “records of the rocks.”  Fossil Neuroptera occur in the Devonian rocks of North America; the first traces of insects allied to the bees and wasps being geologically more recent, and appearing in the oolitic strata.  The occurrence of high social instincts in an ancient group of insects renders the repetition of these instincts in a later and higher group the less remarkable.  The observation, however, does not of necessity carry with it any actual or implied connection between the termites and their higher neighbors, although, indeed, the likeness between the social life of the two orders of insects might warrant such a supposition.

[Illustration:  FIG. 3.  RED, OR HORSE-ANT (Formica rufa.) a, male; b, female, winged; c, worker.]

The common ants (Fig. 3), the study of which in their native haunts is a matter of no great difficulty, and one which will fully reward the seeking mind, like the termites, possess three grades of individuals.  In a single ant’s nest more than One female may be found, the ants differing from the bees in this respect; and in the nests of some species of ants there are apparently “soldiers” resembling the military termites in the possession of large heads and well-developed jaws.  Very amazing differences are to be perceived amongst the various species of ants.  Differences in size are of common occurrence, but naturalists have actually succeeded in classifying ants in a general way, by differences in manner and disposition.  We know, for example, that the horse-ant (Formica rufa, Fig. 3) has little individual intelligence, but is extremely socialistic, and moves and acts en masse with precision and tact.  Another species (F. fusca) is timid and retiring. F. pratensis is a revengeful creature, since it “worries” its fallen foes; F. cinerea is bold and audacious; others are termed “thieves” and “cowards”; some are phlegmatic; and to complete the list of failings and traits which are human enough in character, one species is said to present an invariable greediness as its prevailing characteristic.  The common ants resemble the termites in the general details of their life.  We see in