216 E. A. ANDREWS 



seemed to be of the invading colony, which was the stronger 

 numerically as well as in aggressiveness. 



The generally used method of observing the fighting response 

 was to take a single worker or soldier from such a bowl colony, 

 A, and put it into another bowl colony, B, afterwards one 

 from B was put into A. In all the usual cases the 8 possible 

 forms of the interaction were found: these may be stated as 

 follows, w indicating a worker, s, a soldier and X an observed 

 fight: wA X wB, wB X wA, wA X sB, sB X wA, sA X sB, sA 

 X wB, sB X sA, wB X sA. The intensity of these contests was 

 various and in some cases more or fewer of the combinations 

 were lacking from failure of some individuals or whole colonies 

 to be aggressive or even to resist attack. 



In a few cases the fighting response was so strong that it w^as 

 well exhibited when a single termite was placed with a single 

 alien in a small arena, made with moist black paper on the 

 bottom of a solid watch glass. In these cases of very strong 

 inter-communal action one worker w^ould at once attack the 

 other and be as vigorously replied to so that when the two met 

 or were pushed into contact they at once rose up with jaws 

 clenching jaws like two fighting carnivores. 



In one case a worker thus killed two others of a strongly 

 hostile community in quick succession, by single combat with 

 each as introduced. Generally no fighting response was called 

 out between single termites in strange environment, and the 

 bowl .method, where one colony was at home, gave more certain 

 results. On the other hand, a termite may be apparently lack- 

 ing in response. Thus a very hostile alien amidst passive ter- 

 mites was seen to cut a hole into shoulder of abdomen of a 

 mild worker w^hich stood quiet during the operation. 



In the fighting two acts are prominent: biting with the man- 

 dibles, squirting with the head gland; the former is confined 

 to the worker and the latter to the soldier. 



When an alien is placed amidst termites it may fall upon the 

 first it comes into contact with or it may run some distance 

 amongst the termites before attacking; on the other hand it 

 may be seized by the first termite that meets it or it may pass 

 some or many before it is seized, or attacked. A large worker 

 may kill three others before it is itself killed. 



The actual acts of the worker in attack or defense are to 



