xv, i Uichanco: Philippine Mou?id-building Termites (31 



porting the series of fungus gardens and of being the main 

 prop that prevents the outer shell of the nest from collapsing. 

 At least six different forms of adult individuals are present 

 in the nest; namely, the king, the queen, the large and the small 

 workers, and the large and the small soldiers. Each caste has 

 a distinct function in the nest ; and, due to the similarity of the 

 termites to the true ants in community economy, they are often 

 termed "white ants." The various castes present in each nest 

 are the offspring of a single pair, which has settled down and 

 mated after swarming. 



The swarming of winged termites occurs after sunset or late 

 in the evening, usually during the months between May and 

 September. The swarms are composed of individuals of both 

 sexes, the males for some reason far outnumbering the females. 

 Several counts made on certain swarms of Termes (Macro- 

 termes) philippinensis Oshima, in 1915, gave an average of 

 less than five females to a hundred males. These swarms come 

 from well-established anay nests where, at certain seasons of the 

 year, winged individuals are produced. On certain nights, prob- 

 ably as a result of favorable climatic conditions, large swarms 

 of winged termites are observed to occur at the same time in 

 widely separated localities; for example, the campus of the 

 College of Agriculture and the municipalities of Los Barlos and 

 Calamba. These insects are exceedingly feeble fliers and, for 

 this reason, cannot travel far on their wings; they could not 

 possibly have reached these very distant places from a nest 

 located at any one spot. The more logical inference is that 

 there occurs a simultaneous swarming from nests over a large 

 area. 



An enormous number of individuals composes a swarm; but 

 a great many of them perish in their conjugal flight by being 

 preyed upon by their numerous enemies — principally bats, birds, 

 lizards, and ants. After shedding their wings, the couples run 

 about, the male following the female by clinging fast with his 

 mouth parts to the posterior extremity of her body, until they 

 finally succeed in locating a fit spot in which to build their nest. 

 This is usually under a stone or a piece of wood on moist ground, 

 where they dig a small hollow in which they establish themselves. 

 Some observers maintain that a group of wandering workers 

 of the same species must fall in the way of each newly mated 

 couple and help it establish the colony; but more sound evidence 

 is necessary definitely to prove this assertion. The paired in- 

 dividuals coming down from the swarm and building a nest go 



