Excerpt from Termites, or "White Ants," in the United States: Their Damage, and Methods of Prevention In North America termites do not construct large permanent nests of earth or mounds above ground, as in the Tropics. They make the nests in the wood of dead trees, decaying logs, or stumps in the for est; or in the foundation timbers of buildings, fences, or other strue tures of wood in contact with' the ground; or in a labyrinth of under ground passages in the earth, usually underneath wood or other vegetation. These nests are not as permanent as the mound nests, since the species have wandering habits and there are' seasonal changes in the colony life. These species of termites (leucotermes spp.) are essentially wood destroyers; their excavations usually follow the grain in solid wood. A protective outer shell of wood is always left intact by these blind, soft-bodied insects. Termites infest buildings by means of tunnels through the ground to and up through the foundation timbers, or, in case of foundations of stone or other impenetrable material, cover their pathway by means of sheds constructed of earth and excrement over the surface to the woodwork. Termitessornetimes inhabit and enlarge the burrows of various other wood-boring insects. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.