BY GERALD F. HILL. -153 



The nearest ally of 11. breinli appears to be a rather larger species from 

 Mag-netic Island, Q. Of this species 1 have at present only a young king and 

 queen, taken under a log (10th Feb,), and several series of soldiers and woi'kers 

 from logs and trees in the vicinity, which may be conspecific, but the material 

 is insutKcient to describe as a new species in such a difficult genus. For the 

 same reason 1 have withheld descriptions of a very distinct species from Ma- 

 landa, Atherton District, N.Q., and other apparently distinct species. 1 can 

 find no differences between my new species and an imago from Kimberley, 

 N.W.A., collected and identified by Dr. Mjoberg as R. reticulatus Froggatt. 



Biology : This is one of the common species of termite found in the Towns- 

 ville district, where it causes very considerable damage to wooden houses and 

 fences and probably ranks next to Mastotennes darwiniensis in economic im- 

 portance. It is met with frequently in bush localities, under and within fallen 

 logs, in tree trunks and under the generally fragile clayey covering with which 

 it encases dead trees and fence posts. The trunks of Pandanus sp. are very 

 often attacked and completely destroyed ; house-blocks are occasionally attacked 

 and large numbers of soldiers and workers have been found in the earthen 

 termitaria of Hamitermes perplexus Hill. 



On several occasions the wooden portion of the Australian Institute of 

 Tropical Medicine has been attacked, and on one occasion some damaged timber 

 had to be replaced as a result of infestation by these insects. This building was 

 constnicted on' a plan quite unsuited to the requirements of a termite-infested 

 locality, the main uprights (Australian hardwood) passing through the concrete 

 floor into the soil below, thus affording an easy means of access to the softwood 

 plates and lining boards. 



Hardwood fencing is often badly damaged by these termites, but as the 

 infested portions are neai-ly always encased in a protecting layer of earthy 

 matter their presence is easily detected and remedial measures can be taken. 



Nothing is known concerning the origin of new colonies of this or any 

 other Australian Rhinotermes, but it is surmised that they are founded late in 

 summer by a pair of imagos from the parent colony, as is known to be the 

 case in two undescribed species, young kings and queens of which have been 

 found in pairs under logs, subsequent to fertilization of the females, but prior 

 to oviposition. There is a good deal of evidence to support the belief that all 

 the imagos (winged adults) do not leave the parent colony together in one 

 "colonising" flight, as do many species, but that "swarming" takes place over 

 a period of some months. 



Mature first form (time) kings and queens and neoteinic kings and queens 

 are not known in Australian species of this genus, nor is there any record of 

 the discovery of a nest. In a previous paper (Hill, 1915) I have recordevt 

 having found a mound occupied solely by a species of Rhinotermes, but in the 

 light of further knowledge I now consider this termitarium to have been the 

 work of a species belonging to some other genus and that termitaria are never 

 constructed by Rhinotermes. All the evidence to hand is in support of the 

 contention that the nest is situated at some considerable depth bflow the surface 

 of the gi'ound, possibly 4 or 5 feet, since none of the scores of colonies in logs, 

 trees, and posts, investigated here and elsewhere, have contained eggs or royal 

 forms, though young larvae and nymphae are frequently present with the sol- 

 diers and workers. 



Of the two forms of soldiers the smaller appear to outnumber the larger 

 in about the proportion of 4 to 1, the total of the two being about 2.5% of the 

 workei-s. Both forms contain individuals of male and female sex. the smaller 

 form being the most active and aggressive. 



