334 PETCH : 



(4) The Peziza. 



When a termite comb which bears uEgeriia Dnihei is allo-vved 

 to dry, sa}' by exposm-e on the verandah, it usually develops 

 small, red or yellow, depressed or subglobose tufts of mycehum 

 up to 3 mm. diameter, on the under surface. The same tufts 

 can be developed on combs under bell glasses, provided that 

 they have previously been dried a little, so that the growth of 

 the Xylaria mycelium is retarded. From these tufts a yellow 

 mycelium spreads over the comb and the sm'face of the bell 

 glass, and ultimately produces yellow spheres which split 

 equatorially, leaving small yolloM' Pezizcc. The Peziza has 

 now been grown on combs placed under bell glasses, on combs 

 left on the verandah and covered with a box, and from combs 

 planted in pots ; moreover, it has been collected on numerous 

 occasions, and in every case in comiection with a termite nest. 

 There is no trace of it on the combs Avhen the nest is inhabited . 

 but it occurs commonl}' when the nest has been deserted. 

 From the universal occizrrence of the red and yellow tufts on 

 combs removed from the nest, it must be decided that the 

 mycelium of the Peziza, Hke that of the Xylaria, must always 

 be present in the combs. That it has not been noticed by 

 other observers is doubtless due to the fact that when 

 the comb is placed under a bell glass as soon as it is taken 

 from the nest, the Xylaria mj'celium obliterates everything 

 else. 



On one occasion this Peziza appeared in abundance, 

 together with the Xylaria, from a nest, the inhabitants of 

 which luuMjccn destrojed by the injection of sulphur dioxide ; 

 the nest was situated beneath a bungalow verandah, and the 

 fructilications a])])eared in clusters between the bricks of the 

 floor, in another instance, where the nest was situated in 

 dense shruljljery , the yellow mj'celium spread over the surface 

 covering of dead leaves and climbed up the stems of trees and 

 shrubs, producing its fructifications everywhere. In a third 

 case several hundi-ed specimens of Peziza, and all ])osHibIe 

 stages of the Xylaria. covered an area of bare soil measuring 

 six yards by five. Superficial mycelium is ]iroduced only in 

 densely shaded situations; under ordinary conditions the 



