45G NtW AXD jRARE AUSTRALIAN- TERMITES, WITH NOTES ON THEIR lUOLOGY. 



Affinities: Tliis species is easily distinguisbeti from all previously described 

 Australian Eutermes by the shape of the head of the soldier. Additional 

 characters which ser\'e to differentiate it from nearly all other species are: — its 

 nearly black head, very long, slender, dark legs and antennae and the distinctly 

 banded appearance of the abdomen. Some, or perhaps all, of these latter 

 characters occur in a few Northern Australian species; but never in conjunction 

 with a remarkably long rostrum and slender head. 



Biology: 1 am indebted to Mr. J. Clark for the following information: — 

 The tennitaria are numerous on the open, sandy, coastal plains and on the 

 Darling Range. They vary in shape, some being narrow and conical, others 

 wide and Hat. The average size is about 10-12 inches high and 10-18 inches 

 wide at the base, but occasionally they are twice this size. In many cases they 

 appear to be built upon roots or stumps. The outer walls are about one and 

 one-half inches thick and protect an interior composed of very large cells or 

 chambers, all of which are filled with short lengths of grass. There appears to 

 be neither "nursery" nor queen cell in the super-structure and as the mature 

 reproductive forms have not yet been disco\ered in any of the nests examined 

 it is ]irobal)le that the termitariiim serves the i>urpose of a storehouse only. 

 When the nests are broken the workers appear to be more aggi'essive than the 

 soldiers, and are often noticed running about liolding other species in their jaws. 



In the nests of many species of Eutermes there is no regular queen-cell, the 

 ovigerous female ovipositing in any of the large cells towards the outer walls 

 that are not already filled with "chaffed" grass. In others the tennitarium 

 serves as a storehouse and nursery, the C|ueen and eggs being located below the 

 surface of the ground, as would appear to be the case in the species descril)ed 

 above. It is by no means a rare occurrence to find two or more species of ter- 

 mites living in one terniitarium, but Mr. Clark's record of five species is very 

 unusual. Ilamitermefi obeuiitis Silv. and Mirotcnnes kraepelini Silv. are often 

 associated in the nests of other species, but in one nest of Eutermes irpstraliensis 

 there were found, in addition to tlie two above species, Leticotermes, n. sp. and 

 Eutermes 1 apiocephalus Silv. 



Lnc. — S.W. Australia: Gosnells. Kalanuuida. Wongong (J. Clnrk). 



Eefereiices in addiliini In those <iu(ited in the Ic.vl. 



Illi.L, G. F., 1921. — Cnptolermes rdjfnii/i Wasnian. Proc. Linn. JSoc. N.S. 

 Wales, xl\i., Pt. 2. pp. 203-207. 



— On some Australian Termites of tlie genera Drepanotermes, 

 llamitermes and Leucotermes. Bu,ll. Entomological Research (In the Press). 



EXPLANATION Oi-" PLATE XXXVI. 



Flu;. 4. S/o/oUrii/es vic/oriensis, n.sp. Winers. 



Fig. US. Caloteitiies (Clyf>l(ilt'rvies) / obscuj-us WwWn. Winfifa. 



Pig. 25. ,, ,, ,, Portion of median vein and membrane. 



Pig. 26. Caloterines (Cyyptoleriiies) priDiui, n.sp. Winf^s. 



