398 CJ.AITDE FULLER. 



uniform in size and irreg'ularly oblate. Each cell lias, as a 

 rule, two apertures. In the core of the nest is a large 

 flattened and horizontal queen-cell (PL XXXI, fig. 2), and, 

 almost invariably, above this is a series of large inclined cells, 

 which can be seen in the vertical section illustrated in 

 PI. XXXI, fig. 3. These cells form a kind of stairway, up 

 which the queen can and does progress. Whilst she has not 

 been detected laying her eggs in these superior cells the 

 quantities of eggs located there indicate that she migrated 

 to them for ovipositing. If this is the case it maybe assumed 

 to overcome the difficulty which would arise from too great 

 an accumulation of eggs in the queen-cell. The largest nests 

 found had a surface diameter of 12 in. and extended 8 to 

 10 in. deep into the soil. 



In the scrub-lands parvus feeds upon decaying wood; 

 the allied species in the Transvaal feeds upon grass, and will 

 also attack young trees, hollowing out the roots and other 

 underground parts. 



The first impi'ession which the nests of parvus gives is 

 that they are formed by the conversion of dead stumps, and 

 whilst I am inclined to think that this sometimes occurs there is 

 sufficient evidence to show that it is not necessarily the case. 



Eutermes bilobatus [Haviland). PI. XXXI, figs. 7-9. 



This species normally inhabits a clay hive, portion of 

 which is thrust above ground in the form of a low rounded 

 mound 3 to 5 in. high and 5 to 7 in. in diameter; the whole 

 interior is cellular; and there is no differentiation or partition 

 between that portion in the confines of the mound and the 

 subterranean region which it overlies. Its striking external 

 feature is the resemblance borne by it to a water-woi'n 

 boulder inset in the soil ; a feature which is not only one of 

 appearance but also of hardness as well (PI. XXXI, fig. 7). 

 The crust of the dome is nearly always one-half to three- 

 quarters of an inch in thickness; under this the structure 

 is cellular, and in this form the hive is continued into the soil 



