120 ERNEST WARE EN. 



The larvae on leaving the egg seem all alike. The eggs 

 are carried from the royal cell and deposited, either on the 

 fungus-beds, or on the clayey fi'amework of the nest. 



The larvae from which the six castes develop have 12 

 segments to the antenna?. The male and female images will 

 have 19 segments; soldiers of both kinds, 18 segments; and 

 workers of both kinds, 17 segments. The king and queen of 

 a nest always lose a few terminal segments. 



In T. natalensis, as in all fungus-growei's, neoteinic indi- 

 viduals have not been observed. It is not improbable that a 

 male and female winged imago may occasionally be elected 

 king and queen, which shed their wings without leaving the 

 nest. 



With reference to the duties of the diiferent castes it may be 

 noted that the soldiers defend the openings of the nest, while 

 the workers close them when occasion arises. The soldiers 

 have a weak thorax and abdomen, Avhich they endeavour not 

 to expose. The soldiers have large salivary vesicles reaching 

 to the apex of the abdomen, and when angry they discharge 

 the contents, which appear as a clear viscid drop between the 

 mandibles. The secretion does not seem to be an irritant. 

 The soldiers are blind, and direct their mandibles with very 

 little skill. 



Large soldiers seldom go far from the nest, but small 

 soldiers always accompany the workers on a foraging expedi- 

 tion. The large workers do the foraging, while the small 

 workers attend to the fungus-growing and to nursing, but 

 they also are often found away from the nest. 



The nests of T. natalensis are frequently infested by the 

 large ant, Carabara vidua. The nest of the ant generally 

 traverses the termite nest in a very irregular way. The 

 termites always keep a wall between themselves and the ants. 

 This wall is smooth and firm on the termite side, but rough 

 and loose on the side of the ants. The nnts certainly derive 

 great benefit from the warmth of the termite nest. 



