TERMITES
himself in his bereavement, by the adoption of a whole harem of young short-winged females. But if he too should be lost, then the workers give the succession to one or more pairs of the second- or third-caste reproductive forms, to whom they grant the royal prerogatives. The progeny of any of the fertile castes will include the caste of the parents and all castes below them. In other words, only winged forms can produce the whole series of castes; short-winged parents can not produce long-winged offspring; and wingless parents can not produce winged
Fig. 82. The usual king (A) and queen (B), or winged reproductive caste after having lost the wings (fig. 79), of Reticulitermes flavipes. (From Banks and Snyder)
offspring of any form; but both short-winged and wingless parents can produce soldiers and workers. It appears, therefore, that each imperfect fertile insect lacks something in its constitution that is necessary for the production of a complete termite individual.
The production of constitutionally different castes from the eggs of a single pair of parents would be a
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