BLACK TERMITE OF CEYLOK. 415 



out to the feeding ground and a parallel stream on the same 

 track conveymg food to the nest. In one case a procession 

 was observed setting out between 4 and 5 in the evening. By 

 5.30 the leaders had reached their objective, and their 

 followers formed a continuous stream, six abreast, from the 

 nest to the feeding ground, a distance of about thirty yards ; 

 at 8.45 P.M. there was stiU a continuous procession over the 

 whole distance ; but while five files were proceeding outwards 

 to the feeding ground, the remaining line consisted of indivi- 

 duals, laden with food, ret'urning to the nest. 



It must be pointed out that in the case of a captive nest the 

 movements of the insects are probably not identical with those 

 which occur under normal conditions : this was certainly the 

 case with a nest in caj)tivity at Peradeniya, the inhabitants of 

 which wandered out over the laboratory wall at all hours of 

 the day. 



Apparently the workers when collecting food eat what they 

 require, and then carry a further supply home. At first, 

 almost aU the returning workers are laden with grayish, green, 

 or red balls, but the last comers usually bear no burden ; this 

 lends support to the view that the loads are placed in position 

 by other workers. In some instances, thousands of them 

 return without any food, though it is abundant on the tree 

 they have \asited. What becomes of the food conveyed into 

 the nest is not quite clear, but from observations on these 

 termites in captivity it would seem that the worker carries the 

 ball of food about, and the other inhabitants of the nest — those 

 engaged m building the comb or tending the larvae — which 

 have probably not taken part in the procession, nibble pieces 

 off it. The balls of lichen or alga are not used as material 

 for the construction of " fungus gardens." The " fungus 

 garden " of the mound-building termites is the comb itself, but 

 in the present case the comb does not bear any traces of fungi. 

 Nor has there been found any store of food in the nests examined, 

 though in one case it was known that the t-^.rmites had been 

 collecting food for several weeks, up to within forty-eight 

 hours of the time the nest was opened. 



One apparent exception to the foregoing occurred \x\ the 

 case of a nest (already referred to) which occupied the upper 



