204 E. A. ANDREWS 



some 2 by I feet in diameter, conical. Tlie male was near the 

 females, probably in the queen chamber, and near this a dense 

 cluster of some 200 large, dark-brown workers; possibly comple- 

 mental forms? No winged forms w^ere found in either of the 

 nests containing males. The 2 males in the other nest were 

 near the queens, which were small. The workers surrounded 

 the males and tended them but not as assiduously as in the 

 case of the female and in much less numbers. On a table a 

 male moved with quick, restless action, but did not progress 

 rapidly, twisting right and left, walking quickly hither and 

 thither, soon going into the shadow^ of nearby objects. In the 

 natural nest innumerable young in all stages w^ere generally 

 found not far from the region of the queen chamber. Occa- 

 sionally small callows, 2 mm. long, were taken in the processions 

 from transplanted nests. The distinct form of head of the 

 soldier is early acquired in the white young. 



The adult community is composed of workers and soldiers in 

 about the ratio of 9 to i . One nest i ^ feet high and i J feet wide 

 contained 631,878 termites, as represented by the average of 

 3 estimates from weighing and measurements of volume of all 

 the community. The great majority of these, probably half a 

 million, were workers. 



All the mechanical work of the community was seen to be 

 done by this caste: the construction of nest and arcades, the- 

 tearing off and carrying of food, the transport of eggs, the 

 cleaning of the queen and the male and also the feeding and 

 cleaning of the soldiers, the feeding of the queen and finally 

 the biting of all foes. 



About every tenth termite is a soldier, a nasutus or form 

 with black, prolonged head and minute jaws, having a gland 

 that discharges at the tip of the snout-like termination of the 

 head, as figured by Knower, J. H., Univ. Circulars, 1894. The 

 use of this caste would seem to be connected with different 

 development of sense organs rather than with muscular work. 

 The nasuti might be called " investigators " for the community 

 rather than soldiers, for though very effective in certain refined 

 modes of defense their conspicuous function is to precede the 

 workers in all new undertakings and also to stand between 

 them and outlying unknown dangers. 



Whenever the nest or the arcade or feeding ground is disturbed 



