Abstract
THOUGH more than a century has elapsed since Smeathman published the first careful account of Termitidae, but few workers have substantially increased our knowledge of the subject. The reasons for this apparent apathy lie, indeed, on the surface. With few exceptions the Termites are tropical or sub-tropical in habitat; avoiding light, and living in vast concealed communities, their cryptic manner of life renders the task of observation extremely prolonged and arduous, while the multiplicity of forms in a single species, and the difficulties attending their preservation, have earned them little regard from the systematist.
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BLANDFORD, W. The Social System of Termites1. Nature 56, 517–518 (1897). https://doi.org/10.1038/056517a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/056517a0