214 E. A. ANDREWS 



p. m. became more active and flew out of a bowl. A few came 

 to lamp at night. 



The responses of termites of one community to termites of 

 another are most remarkable, as long since described by Beau- 

 mont in his observations in Panama. When one or more ter- 

 mites are removed from a community and returned after hours 

 or days of isolation they are received back into the community 

 without marked disturbance of any kind, generally seem not to 

 be noticed at all. But a termite from another colony is generally 

 at once set upon and killed. 



The fighting response to alien termites was observed, by taking 

 termites from one natural nest and placing them on another, by 

 putting termites from one part of a community, kept in a finger 

 bowl, into another like artificial colony from another nest, and 

 finally by putting single termites with single termites of another 

 nest. In all cases the result was death to the alien termites 

 or to the others, or both, with the following exceptions: 



One nest was found in w^hich all the individuals seemed to 

 lack the fighting reaction towards members of some other nests, 

 though they would attack members of certain other commu- 

 nities. 



In some nests individuals were found apparently lacking in 

 the tendency to fight aliens, but these individuals were few. 

 Such lack of response to aliens was also artificially brought 

 about by washing termites in water, as described below. Very 

 young, termites of alien communities were examined carefully 

 but not attacked; the young being immune to attack up to 

 certain amount of development or at least of size. White larvae, 

 i^ mm. long, greatly excite all alien workers which chance to 

 touch them with antennae, but though pushed and licked they 

 are not bitten. Yet a larvae 2 mm. long was surrounded and 

 had leg bitten off while biting back into faces of aliens. 



In spite of these exceptions it seems that one of the most 

 certain actions of these termites is to attack termites of alien 

 communities. These fighting responses were called out between 

 various members of the communities. Thus workers attack: 

 alien workers, soldiers, winged forms, males and queens as well 

 as winged forms recently deaelated. Soldiers were seen to 

 attack; soldiers, workers, winged forms; but the only experiment 

 with an alien queen resulted in the abrupt retreat of the soldiers 



