418 FETCH : 



The construction of this comb biijigs out an exfienioly 

 interesting i)oint. Under normal conditions neither the comb 

 nor the external hanging mass of Eutermes monoceros ever 

 contain any particles of earth or sand ; they are built entirely 

 of excrement which is deposited in situ. On the other hand, 

 the mound-building species construct their combs of excrement, 

 but the mound is built Of particles of earth which are brought 

 up by the termites, placed in position on the old earthwork, 

 and cemented there by a sticky secretion from the mouth ; 

 \n that case, therefore, the comb and the mound arc built of 

 (liiTerent materials and in different ways. 



But Froggatt, and Dudley and Beaumont, have described 

 how certain species repair their mounds with material extruded 

 ah ano : in such cases the method adopted for the construction 

 of the mound is identical with that which Termes redemanni, 

 T. ohscuriceps, &c., employ in the construction of the comb. 

 The present case throws fresh light on these diverse habits. 

 In this instance, both kinds of material were employed for 

 the same work. The particles of sand were brought up by the 

 wcjikers and placed on the edge of a plate, Avhere they were 

 cemented by a secretion from the mouth exactly as the particles 

 uf earth are cemented to the apex of a chimney by the mound - 

 Ijuilding species ; and, side by side with that, excrement was 

 extruded in a semi-fluid form by other workers, after tiie usual 

 manner of Eutermes monoceros. Thus it is possible to have 

 both kinds of material and both methods of construction m 

 the same work. The case is the more remarkable, in that 

 Eutermrs monoceros does not, normally, make use of earth and 

 sand, though it may, in c£tee of necessity, similarly em])l()y 

 fiarticles of wood {see p. 402). 



These termites made nightly excursions round the laboratory 

 in search of food. T'o pass from the plant pot to the wall they 

 constructed a short Ijridge of pellets of excrement. In order 

 to prevent if possible the abandonment of this " captive " 

 nest attempts were made to provide food for them, but this 

 proved by no means an easy taslc. They would not cat the 

 foiiaceous lichens, which could be collected in abundance, and 

 it was not po.ssiblc to supply them with suitable s])eoies in any 

 quantity without injuring the tn'cs on which they grow. 



