54 HAROLD HEATH. 



solicits dejecta from another it scarcely ever pursues it for more 

 than a centimeter unless there are signs that the scybalum is 

 forthcoming, and even then the pursuit is only for a short dis- 

 tance. But here in the case of Tcrmcs one perfect insect often 

 pursues the other for many meters, and I have noticed in the case 

 of several which fell in some large cement basins that they kept 

 it up for an entire afternoon and evening. Furthermore, if the 

 individual behind becomes separated from the one in front the 

 latter almost immediately stops and stands transfixed with the 

 abdomen curved upward until it once more feels the palpitation 

 of the antennae of the one behind. The whole process suggests 

 that some secretion located at the posterior extremity of the body 

 attracts the one behind until the other finds a suitable spot for a 

 nest. 



Within a short time after mating the female burrows into the 

 soil where this is soft ; 'otherwise she traverses some crevice and 

 disappears from sight followed by the male. In Italy, according 

 to Grassi, their subsequent careers are without result. Neverthe- 

 less, this investigator was able to obtain the commencement of a 

 colony and Ferris : notes that in the Landes royal pairs accom- 

 panied by eggs are of frequent occurrence under chips. In 

 California this species is very difficult to keep, owing to its in- 

 ability to withstand even slight changes in the amount of moisture 

 in the nest. It thrives best in large jars filled with chips and 

 earth, but even in this habitat it rarely lives over three or five 

 months. Royal pairs, when placed in these surroundings, after 

 swarming, disappear almost immediately and the following day 

 may be seen next to the bottom of the jar a foot or so from the 

 surface, excavating hollows in the wood and neighboring soil. 

 Five weeks later I have found small clumps of eggs which in one 

 colony hatched, but the young as well as the parents soon died. 



Under natural conditions it is almost impossible to find these 

 royal pairs, owing to their habit of burrowing in the soil, but I 

 have secured four colonies after upwards of a year of watching. 

 Three of these occupied excavations in some old fence posts 

 almost completely buried in an unused gravel pit near San Jose. 

 Placed in essentially the same conditions one and a half to two 



1 Ann. Soc. ent. France (5), VI., 1876, p. 201. 



