Termite Fungi : a Resume, 



BY /^"^'?Al^V 



'"'^^ Vo„K 



T. FETCH, B.A., B.Sc. ""^'^'MCAi. 



TN 1906 the present writer published an account of the *^'**^'^^'^- 



-L fungi which were then known to grow in and on termite 

 nests in Ceylon. Since that date additional information 

 concerning the Ceylon species has been communicated in 

 various articles, and the subject has received the attention of 

 naturalists in other countries also. Moreover, bibhogi'aphical 

 research has brought to light, in unexpected quarters, earUer 

 records relating to these fungi, which appear to have been com- 

 pletely forgotten. Details of the fungus flora of termite nests 

 are now available from India, Ceylon, Java, and Madagascar, 

 and it would appear that a comparison of the mycological 

 results of different investigators might be of service. 



In the following pages the word " nest " is employed as an 

 equivalent of " termitarium." This is the most natural use 

 of the term, but it is difficult to define it satisfactorily. If it is 

 defined as the whole collection of structures associated with a 

 single fertile queen, one is met by the objection that there 

 may be two or more queens in the royal cell ; on the other 

 hand, if the definition is made dependent upon the royal cell, 

 there is the objection that in some nests, e.g., Eutermes mono- 

 ceros, there is no royal cell. 



The subterranean nests (including the mound nests, which 

 are really mainly subterranean) in Ceylon consist of numerous 

 chambers, or cavities in the soil, each of which contains one 

 or more structures, which have been aptly hkened to coarse 

 bath sponges. These structures are composed of finely 

 divided wood or other vegetable matter which has been eaten 

 by the termites ; they are built, in all cases, of excrement. 

 For these the name " comb " is used, a term which has been 

 appHed to them for nearly a century. A termite hill in Ceylon 

 may be regarded as a series of clay wails enclosing and 

 protecting a large number of combs. 



Annals of the Royal Botanic (iardens, Peiadeniya, Vol. V., Part V., March, lOl.'j. 



6(9)12 (39) 



