OBSERVATIONS ON SOME SOU'I'H AFRICAN TKRMITES. 343 



the ants Avhich gather viciously ai-ound. By their action 

 they secure to the wing-ed a safe departure. Overcome with 

 anxiety to seize upon the winged insects, the excited ants take 

 no notice of the worker termites, and it is quite exceptional 

 to see one of these carried off until after all the winged 

 insects have dispei'sed. The barrier is eifective, however, 

 because when an ant steps in among the workers to reach its 

 most prized prey, it is so discomfited by the nips of the little 

 termites upon its feet that it is compelled to retire. 



At Pretoria, both in 1913 and 1914, the images of this 

 species emerged in great abundance on various dates through- 

 out the month of November,^ and always between the hours 

 of 6 and 7 p.m. or during the brief twilight. The act took 

 place almost invariably 10 to 24 hours after a fall of rain, 

 the evenings selected being uniformly mild and quiet. Yery 

 many instances came under observation, but in none of 

 these did one occur at any other time of the day, nor when 

 windy, nor when rain was falling. On the other hand an 

 emergence may often be followed within an hour or so by 

 both strong wind and heavy rain. 



The exodus commences almost suddenly and ceases quite 

 abruptly. When darkness actually falls the insects are no 

 longer on the wing, so that the period involved is never more 

 than 30 to 45 minutes. ISJ^umerous cases came under observa- 

 tion in my garden, on the neighbouring kopjes and elsewhere. 

 During one evening in 1913, and again in 1914, over a mile 

 length of street was traversed, and along the whole length 

 this species was emerging from countless places, in every 

 garden, and at short intervals along the sidewalks. Such 

 instances furnish some idea of how extensively this species 

 inhabits the soil of Pretoria. 



The winged incertus issue forth from the soil very rapidly 

 and jostle and crowd upon one another, in the narrow confines 

 of the apertures, to such an extent that very often they are 

 so densely packed as to form small upright columns from the 



' The actual period is the last week in October into the first week in 

 December. Another emergence occurred in March, 1914. 



