OBSERVATIONS ON SOME SOUTH AEKIOAN TERMITES. 401 



parallel in the attack of true ants upon them and other 

 similarly nestiag species. It is scarcely possible to find a 

 normal mound of bilobatus about Pretoria which has not a 

 nest of a true ant in part of it ; the ants capture the nest in 

 the course of time by taking possession of it cell by cell. The 

 process is not, however, a rapid one, as the termite can build 

 up quicker than the ant can break down, and the ver}' art 

 which enables this termite to supplant another of its kind is 

 its most potent means of defence Avhere the ant is concerned. 

 When a hive of bilobatus is broken into the ants 

 excitedly swarm in at once and seize and catry off the ter- 

 mites ; they will not attack an injured nest of trinervius 

 with like avidity, and seldom make tlieir own domiciles near 

 to the mounds of this latter species. Indeed they evince 

 great circumspection, and always endeavour to capture the 

 trinervius nasuius from behind. 



The queen of bilobatus has the abdominal region vastly 

 •eidarged, but it is somewhat vermiform, presenting a number 

 of irregular bulges of the fai'-stretched counecting membrane. 

 Although so much enlarged and cumbersome the queen is 

 able to make rapid progress, and when exposed essays to 

 escape deeper into the nest. The apertures in the cell-walls 

 are far too small to allow her abdomen to pass through 

 unimpeded, but it is drawn through by the strength of her 

 exertions, being constricted in the process to half its 

 diameter. The eggs are found in packets in different parts 

 of the nest, to which they are carried by the workers. 



The workers comprise the bulk of the colony except when 

 the nymphs of winged adults are present. When the nest 

 is broken some hide away, but the majority of those exposed 

 make no attempt to escape, crawling aimlessly about. Later, 

 if unmolested by ants, they will start and repair the structui-e 

 with pellets of clay -cement voided from their bodies. 



The soldiers are always very few in number — often no 

 more than a dozen can be found in a nest, at times they are 

 entirely absent. This is especially the case when the imagos 



