350 CLAUDE FULLER. 



smallest being 5 mm. long. It is suspected that the hives 

 of this species intercommunicate, as do those of Eutevmes 

 trinervius, and that the economy of the two is moi'c or 

 less analogovis. 



The hive-cavities (Plate XXV, fig. 2, and Plate XXVI, 

 fig. 1), with one exception, were all sub-spherical, having a 

 horizontal diameter of 24 in. and a perpendicular height of 

 18 in. The cavities are partitioned by very numerous hori- 

 zontal and close-set shelves (Plate XXV, figs. 4-6). These 

 are constructed of a thin and very papery snbstance which 

 does not dissolve in water or in alcohol. The shelves lie one 

 above another with striking regularity, and are attached to a 

 series of clay brackets projecting from the walls. The shelves 

 are not equi- distant apai't throughout the cavity, but range 

 from 6 to 15 mm. Innumerable little cylindrical columns of 

 wooden texture, spread over the field of each shelf, hold the 

 whole fabric together (PI. XXV, fig. 4). These little columns 

 are not stairways ; the insects pass up and down from storey 

 to storey of the hive by short inclines. The hive is not like 

 that of any other known termite structure in South Africa. 

 Except that the shelving is as br-ittle as charred paper, 

 whether moist or dry, the shelves might be described as being- 

 more like dark brown paper than anything else, as they are 

 scarcely thicker than stout paper. 



A most striking feature is found in a series of eight great 

 shafts which, descending more or less perpendicularly from 

 the sides and bottom of the cavity to a distance of 2 to 3 ft. 

 into the soil, run forward in a horizontal coil and then end 

 blindly. Whether these are for the purpose of permitting 

 heavy gases developing in the hive to find a lower level, or 

 are merely for drainage in the case of soil saturation, is purely 

 a matter for speculation. 



The hive is approached and entered by equally large 

 galleries which perforate the sides of the cavity. They are 

 comparatively few in number, only four being found in the 

 nest examined fully. The galleries do not run ofl: in a 

 horizontal plane, but first descend to a level below that of the 



