Termites
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Termites. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a family of insects in the order Corrodentia, or, according to some systems, Pseudo-Neuroptera. They are often called "white ants," but ants are hymenopterous insects, and do not occur before Tertiary times, whereas the termites seem to have lived from Carboniferous ages onward. Yet, like the ants, the termites are social insects living in colonies and building "nests," or "hills." They are widely distributed in tropical countries but they also occur in the temperate parts of North and South America, and a few have established themselves in Europe. As their food consists for the most part of wood, especially in a state of incipient decay, they help many trees to their fall, and they are destructive pests in human dwellings. The termite society consists for the most part of wingless, sexually immature individuals, children, potentially of both sexes, which do not grow up. Besides these workers there is a less numerous caste of large-headed, strong-jawed soldiers. The workers collect food, form burrows and tun tunnels, build "hills," and care for the males, females, eggs, and larvæ. The males and females have wings, which the latter lose after the impregnation. Then, indeed, the female or queen undergoes a remarkable change, becoming enormously distended with eggs and sometimes attaining 4 a length of two to five inches or more. The queen is extremely prolific, having been known to lay 60 eggs in a minute, or about 80,000 eggs in a day. In the royal chamber a male is also kept. It is hardly necessary to say that the queen could not leave if she would. But to understand this imprisonment we must notice that in spring the young winged males and females leave the nest in a swarm, after which pairing takes place; the survivors becoming the imprisoned "rulers" and parents of new colonies. But Fritz Muller has shown that besides the winged males and females there are (in at least many cases) wingless males and females which never leave the termitary in which they are born, being kept as complementary or reserve reproductive members, useful should not a winged royal pair be forthcoming. Sometimes this casualty occurs, and then the wingless pairs become parents. The complementary kings die before winter; their mates live on, widowed, but still maternal, till at least another summer. The workers are diligent in tending the king and queen, in removing the laid eggs, and in feeding the larvæ. In general appearance and size a wingless termite is ant-like, but the winged forms are much larger and flatter, and their wings are quite different. The workers have large broad heads and strong jaws adapted for gnawing; the soldiers have still larger heads and longer jaws. The most remarkable termitaries are 7 those of Termes bellicosus, abundant on the W. coast of Africa. They are sugarloaf-like in shape, 10 to 20 feet in height, and, though built of cemented particles of earth, are strong enough to bear a man's weight. Internally, as the figure shows, there are several stories and many chambers, some for the workers, one for the king and queen, others for the eggs and young, others for storing supplies of compacted minced wood. But the termites do not all build such gigantic nests; for some build their homes on the branches of trees and apparently out of masticated woody material. In Africa T. bellicosus and T. arborum are common species; in North America T. flavipes is very common. A few spices- T. lucifugus, T. flavicollis, and T. flavipes-all probably introduced-occur in Europe. Besides Termes there are other genera, such as Eutermes, Calotermes, and Anoplotermes. The termines seem to be of use in destroying decaying wood and in loosening the soil. They also afford food for ant eaters and other insectivorous mammals and for birds. But to dwellers in warm countries they are pests, destroying the timbers of houses and all sorts of wooden furniture. Effecting entrance from underground, they hollow out the interior, leaving only a deceptive shell, which at length collapses. Even in Europe T. lucifugus has proved very destructive in some parts of France, notably in the navy yard of Rochefort. Yet to the naturalist their social life, their reproductive relations, and their architectural instincts are most interesting marvels demanding further research.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
ter'mitz, or White Ants, a family of social insects. They are not related to the ant. They are widely distributed, chiefly in the tropics, where they not infrequently build hills ten to twelve feet high and cut underground passages of such extent that animals require to pick their way to avoid a fall. African explorers have reported localities rendered impassable for ox teams. Certain northern species inhabit old logs, stumps, and chambers dug under stones. The termite family consists of a winged king and queen, wingless soldiers with huge heads, and, finally, dirty-white workers who perform the labor of the establishment. They are miners and avoid the light. Except that the kings and queens from numerous colonies swarm forth for a day or two during the pairing season, the life of the entire colony is subterranean. During the breeding season, the queen occupies a chamber hollowed out for her by the workers. She is so swollen with eggs that she lies helpless as a potato. The workers feed her and remove the eggs as fast as they are laid. Florida orange growers have suffered from the underground operations of "white ants" that girdle the trees. These Florida "ants" are said to be working their way northward. They are reported to have reached Illinois. In tropical countries, these "ants" are destructive of woodwork, eating out the interior till the surface crumbles under the touch. They have been known to enter the legs of a table by boring through the floor, and to devour the interior of legs and top unsuspected, until the table fell under a slight weight. A recent writer of apparent credibility states that it is necessary to plant the poles of certain telephone lines in India in iron sockets to prevent their being entered from the ground and eaten hollow. This writer adds that a workman left his tool chest and overalls unguardedly, and returned in a few days to find nothing left of his overalls but buttons, and nothing of his chest but screws, hinges and locks. His tools were minus all their wooden parts.