PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 22, NO. 6, JUNE, 1920 115 



the abdomen of mature queens of the third form are less project- 

 ing than those of the second form and are less semicircular. The 

 mouthparts and legs are also less gross in structure. Indeed, 

 these queens more nearly approach those of the first form. The 

 development of the egg tubes of third form queens is less than 

 that of either the first or second forms; these queens are of rela- 

 tively small size 9 mm. being the length of the largest queen of 

 R. flavipes so far collected. The antennae of the mature queens 

 consists of 15 segments. "Stylets" or abdominal appendices on 

 the ventral surface of the 9th abdominal segment of the female 

 are absent, disappearing during the final nymphal molt. 



Only twenty-four of these forms, all but one of which are fe- 

 males, have been found in colonies of species of Reticulitermes in 

 this country. They are apparently rare in species of this genus, 

 but both males and females are fairly common in colonies of 

 Prorhinotermes simplex Hagen. The colonies of the species of Re- 

 ticulitermes in which they have been found, have in all cases except 

 two been small. The colony where the young male of R. tibialis 

 was found was very large. Three individuals of the species 

 llavipes Kol. were found in the same colony, and seventeen in 

 another in Virginia; one of virginicus Banks in North Carolina 

 and one in Virginia, (Snyder, 1915); one of tibialis Banks in Colo- 

 rado by A. B. Champlain, and one male of this species found in 

 a large colony collected by B. T. Harvey at Colorado Springs. 



Only one mature male of this type has yet been found in colonies 

 of species of Reticulitermes; hence nothing is known of the relative 

 proportion of the sexes in the same colony, in case of this repro- 

 ductive form. However, in colonies of P. simplex Hagen, 8 

 females and 2 males occurred in a colony in southern Florida. 



This apterous reproductive form is not able to leave the parent 

 colony except by subterranean tunnels. Like adults of the sec- 

 ond form, this type apparently breeds true to type, for no nymphs 

 with long wing-pads, or winged adults, have been found in col- 

 onies where mature queens of this form were present. 



Occurrence of These Three Reproductive Forms in Other Genera. 



The genus Reticulitermes, the reproductive forms of whose 

 species I have just discussed, is about midway in the systematic 

 classification between the "lower" and "higher" termites, /. e., 

 the most primitive termites and the termites most highly special- 

 ized. 



The most primitive Nearctic termites are species of Tcnnoptis 

 Heer and Kalotermes Hagen. Reproductive adults of the first 

 and third forms have commonly been found in colonies of species 

 of Termopsis; those of the second form are apparently not so com- 



