OUSERVA'I'lONS ON SOME SOUTH AFRICAN TERMITES. 389' 



a Dumber of small tubes ; and similar small tubes lead from, 

 the main runway to the granaries. These main runways, as 

 far as followed, were perfectly uniform. They lay at a depth 

 of 18 in., went quite straight and did not deviate in their 

 level. They had a flat pathway about a third of an inch wide 

 and a vaulted roof, never more than a quarter of an inch at 

 its highest point above the floorway (PL XXIX, fig. 3). 

 From the vault of these tunnels an inclined and slightly wider 

 gallery occasionally leads upwards to within a few inches of 

 the soil surface; from its terminus a number of small 

 cylindrical galleries ramify through the grass roots (PI. 

 XXIX, fig. 4). 



The granaries excavated by this species are very interesting 

 structures. Those that are small are easily described as 

 globular cavities divided into two parts by a horizontal shelf 

 (PL XXIX, figs. 5 and 6). In the larger granaries the 

 shelf is also present, but the cavity is su fantasticall}^ 

 partitioned in other respects that it baffies description 

 (PL XXIX, fig. 7). Except in one instance where a few 

 short lengths of green grass were found in the upper storey 

 of the cavity, all of those inspected were empty. Never- 

 theless, embedded in the soil all around the cavity (in some 

 cases to a depth of 4 in.) were thousands of grass seeds 

 perfectly preserved, as evidenced by the fact that they 

 germinated readily when tested. It is more than likely that 

 these granaries are destined to be filled with supplementary 

 fungus-gardens, and the storing of the seed in the adjacent 

 soil is perhaps to facilitate the rapid building of the nidus for 

 the fungus. What the diaphragms are for one cannot even, 

 speculate. 



The food of latericius may be described as very varied. 

 The collection and storing up of grain does not appear to 

 have been ever suggested For termites, although a feature in 

 the economy of ants. T. latericius feeds commonly upon 

 the droppings of aiiimals and upon dead wood, bark, and 

 dried grass. It has also been taken destroying acacia seed- 

 lings, and harvests green grass after its own fashion. In> 



