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



termes tubiformans Buckley, as yet only a few form second adults 

 have been found and these have been young, (Banks and Snyder, 



1920). 



Progeny of Third Form Adults. 



For many years the writer has found that in certain colonies of 

 species of Reticulitermes, where there were numerous eggs and 

 recently hatched young present, it was often impossible to find 

 mature or enlarged reproductive forms present. Nevertheless, 

 in these colonies often nymphs, or young adults, worker-like in 

 form but with creamy white abdomens occurred. It was sus- 

 pected that these might be reproductive forms and such has 

 proven to be the case, (Thompson and Snyder, 1920). 



The ovary development of individual queens of the third form 

 is less than that of either that of the first or second forms, (Thomp- 

 son and Snyder, 1919). However, reproductive adults of the 

 third form, as well as those of the second form, have the advantage 

 over those of the first form of being polygamous. 



It is not known what the relative proportion of males is to 

 females in reproductive individuals of the third form, due to the 

 difficulty in distinguishing these males from the workers. 



In a large, long-established colony of Reticulitermes flavipes at 

 Falls Church, Va., 17 mature queens of the third form with 

 markedly distended abdomens were transferred to an artificial 

 colony. The abdomens became shrunken, although a fairly large 

 number of workers and soldiers were present, and they soon 

 died without doubt due to lack of sufficient nourishment. 



In case of species of the more primitive genera Termopsis and 

 Kalotermes, reproductive individuals of the third form are active 

 and their abdomens are relatively not so markedly distended as in 

 species of Reticulitermes. They are not so dependent upon the 

 immature nymphs of the reproductive forms for care and nour- 

 ishment as these queens are upon workers in species of Reticuli- 

 termes; the nymphs take the place of the workers, which are 

 lacking. 



There are no data at hand, as yet, as to the habits of the mature 

 third form queens of Prorhinotermes simplex. The proportion of 

 the mature males to the females in a representative large colony 

 in southern Florida was '2 males to 8 females. In a smaller 

 colony of this termite, 11 young third form adults were found, 

 4 being males and 7 females. 



There is need of more data on reproductive adults of the third 

 form. Like adults of the second form, they apparently breed 

 true to type and never produce first or second form adults. 



