Page 10 - The Miracle of Termites

Introduction

I n this world of ours live many kinds of amazing creatures.

In addition to the ants, honeybees, dogs, cats, flies, spiders,
horses, chickens, seagulls, sparrows and other species we know so
well, there are also many we have not yet encountered. In many parts
of the globe, there are millions of kinds of living things which we have
never heard of. Even if we learned their names, we would have noth-
ing to which we could compare them.
The subject of this book is an insect that most of us aren't used to
seeing in our environment. This insect is the termite, which resembles
an ant in appearance and partially in the way it lives. But even though

they look like ants, termites have very different characteristics—and
abilities.
Some people may be surprised to find a book entirely about ter-
mites. What, they may ask, is there to tell about these small insects?
But as you will soon see, this little-known creature has characteristics
that may open people's minds to an entirely different horizon of ideas.
This book investigates that hidden world of termites, their physi-