376 CLAUDE FULLER. 



very active Thysanura, and at times mites are found fixed 

 to her body. 



(2) The King. — The queen is invariably accompanied by 

 one male ; more than one has never been noticed. This 

 creature, under observation, displays an extraordinary devo- 

 tion to his mate. He seldom wanders more than an inch 

 away from her ; constantly approaching her head and paying 

 apparent court; then inspecting her flanks and eggs with 

 preoccupied attention ; behaving, in short, as most male 

 termites seem in the habit of doing, but never revealing the 

 pui'pose of his existence. The male is always somewhat 

 inflated with body-fat ; the conjunctiva of the sides of the 

 abdomen being distended, but not that of tlie dorsal and 

 venti'al sclerites. 



(3) Soldiers. — The main defence of the nest falls upon 

 the minor soldiers, or at least appears to do so, because they 

 are more numerous than the major soldiers. The major 

 soldiers do certaiul}^ accompany the minors, whenever any 

 breach of mound or inner citadel is made, but in small pro- 

 portion. Upon the whole the bulk of the major soldiers 

 retreat to the inner parts of the nest, the fungus-gardens and 

 the neighbourhood of the royal cell. Both larger and smaller 

 soldiers bite, and the jaws of the larger will meet and cut 

 like a knife through the thick skin of the finger-tip. The 

 principal enemy of this species being aardvark, it is extremely 

 probable that the function of the greater soldiers is to 

 lacerate the creature's nostrils and mouth parts, and by so 

 doing guard the queen-cell from demolition. That the part 

 played is effectual, in this regard, is doubtful. 



(4) Workers. — The workers, on the whole, retire when 

 the nest is molested, many crowding into the queen-cell. They 

 gather in force for repairing the breach within a very short 

 time after the attack upon the nest ceases. An opening 

 (about 2 sq. ft.) made in a nest one day at 3 p.m., in expos- 

 ing half a hive, was completely closed by 8 a.m. the next 

 morning. 



It is obvious, from the fact that this species permits plants 



