BY WALTER \V. FROGGATT. 731 



The soldier of this curious termite somewhat resembles Termes 

 nigriceps in the form of the jaws, but is a very distinct species in 

 all other respects. It appears to be one of the common species 

 in that part of Central Australia visited by the Horn Expedition, 

 as Professor Spencer obtained several small colonies. A note 

 with the largest lot states that they were taken from a nest at 

 the roots of a tussock of spinifex grass. 



Termes serratus, n.sp. 

 (Plate xxxiv., fig. 5.) 



Winged form unknown. 



Soldier. — Head bright ferruginous, darkest at the apex; jaws 

 dark reddish-brown, black at the tips; antennae and palpi light 

 brown; prothorax pale yellow; rest dull white. Length 2 lines. 

 Head slender, much longer than broad, rounded behind, summit 

 convex; a slight median suture, merging into a transverse one; 

 forehead rounded, with a stout tubercule projecting at the sides 

 in front of the antennte, truncated above the jaws ; antennae 

 13-jointed, slender; 1st large, cylindrical, 2nd smaller, 3rd smallest, 

 4th-13th gradually increasing in size and more turbinate towards 

 the tip; clypeus large, lobed behind, almost round; labrum long, 

 slender, broadest at the base, sti-aight on the sides to the rounded 

 spade-shaped apex; jaws very slender, projecting from the centre 

 of the head, narrow at the base, nearly as long as the head, 

 curving in at the tips and crossing; finely serrated along the 

 inner margins; palpi long and slender, but not as long as the 

 jaws. Thorax small; prothorax not as wide as the head, truncate 

 in front, rounded on the sides and hind margin; legs long, thighs 

 rather thick in proportion to their length; tibiae stout, cylindrical, 

 with two apical spines; tarsi slender. Abdomen elongate-oval; 

 cerci small, conical. 



Worker. — Head pale yellow, the rest white. Length 2 lines. 

 Head round, slightly longer than broad, with sutures as in that 

 of the soldier; antennae springing from cleft on the sides of the 

 head, 13-jointed, 4th-12th elongate, 13th elongate- oval; clypeus 

 truncate behind, narrow, rounded in front; labrum broadest at 



