4 1 ?. FETCH : 



until January 3, 1010. From that date the record is complete. 

 On January 4 and 5 they remained in the nest, but they were 

 out again on the 6th and 9th visitmg C and G. They were 

 not out oil the 10th, but from January 11 to February 3 they 

 gathered food from the upper branches of their o^v^l tree daily. 

 From February 4 to 7 they visited K, but that route was 

 soon abandoned. On February 8 to 10 they visited B, 

 and again on the 12th, the 11th being blank. From February 

 13 to 24 there was no procession, either on their own tree or 

 abroad, but on February 25 to 28 C was visited daily. March 

 1 was a day of rest, but they were collecting from D on the 2nd. 

 After that they A\'ere out only on March 15 and March 20 to 

 27, on the upper branches of their own tree, and then rested 

 until April 12 to 15, when thej' resumed their visits to C and D. 

 From the records of the last three months it would appear 

 that the procession is not a regular daily event. There were 

 intervals of a fortnight, during which the termites were no* 

 seen to leave their nest. It might however be supposed that 

 during those periods excursions of shorter duration were made 

 at later hours, though that would appear to be contrary to 

 their usual custom. The earlier records are incomplete, because 

 they only take into account excursions to other trees ; for 

 more than three months no such excursion took place, but 

 no doubt the termites found plenty of food on their own tree 

 tiuring that period. To some extent these excursions depend 

 upon external conditions. Apparently the termites do not 

 like wind, and they cannot travel during rain. If rain falls 

 while the procession is in progress, the insects immediately take 

 refuge; on any vertical surface, aj., tree tiunks, the tiled 

 edging of the path, the sides of silt pits, &c., and i\\oy remain 

 there, crowded together, until it has ceased. Tii that way the 

 return to the nest may be delaj^'d several hours. Those w hich 

 are caught in the open by the rain are ciuite helpless, their 

 legs being so weak that they are unable to move when wetted. 

 In general, the; jirocessions apj)ear to bo most frequent after 

 periods of wet weather. But that the insects do not merely 

 re8pf>ud to favourable external conditi(ms is evident from the 

 f»ict that, of nine nests under observation at Peradeniya, one 

 never found processions from more than live at any given time. 



