112 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 22, NO. 6, JUNE, 1920 



the 9th abdominal segment of the female are absent, disappear- 

 ing during the final nymphal molt. 



At the time of the annual swarm the sex organs of this form are 

 not ready to function. 



After this flight and deflation , unlike most insects, the young 

 parent adults feed and there is an actual "post-adult" growth; 

 the abdomen of the queen becomes distended, due chiefly to the 

 development of the ovaries; but later there is also a multiplica- 

 tion of cells fat cells and blood cells. The abdomen of the male 

 or king also becomes slightly increased in size with the later 

 inflation of the body with fat, together with the development of 

 the sex organs. The male of the first (and also the second) 

 reproductive type continues to cohabit with the queen and there 

 is repeated copulation. 



Although their abdomens are slightly distended, the males of 

 the first form are very active; they are usually present in the 

 royal cell together with the queen, but, on account of their small 

 size, they frequently escape when the colony is broken into. 

 Sometimes, when escape is shut off, the male will attempt to 

 hide under the greater body of the female but they usually desert 

 their consorts at the first sign of danger. 



There is only a single pair in each colony, since first form adults 

 are normally monogamous. Sometimes in incipient colonies there 

 may be temporarily at least one male and two females or vice 

 versa. 



Rarely, a male of the first form has been found in a colony with 

 numerous females of the second form. 



"True queens" (of the first form) of our common species were 

 thought either to be very rare or not to exist until quite recently ; 

 this idea has been disproved by Joutel (1893), Hubbard and 

 Schwarz (1901), Schaeffer (1902), Heath (1903) and the present 

 writer (1912), A historical account of the first finding of these 

 forms in the United States is given by the writer (1915). In 

 searching for the cell which contains the queen, it must be re- 

 membered that its location depends upon the species and the 

 habits of the termite, the geographical locality and its climate, 

 and, in some degree, upon the season of the year. The fact must 

 also be borne in mind that termites have several different types 

 of reproductive forms. The commonest type appears to be the 

 dealated, colonizing, sexual adult, developed from nymphs of the 

 first form, i. e., an adult queen of the first form. Queens of this 

 type reach the largest dimensions (in species of Reticulitermes 

 14.5 mm. in length). This reproductive form is apparently the 

 parent of all the other reproductive forms as well as of the soldier 



