SOUTH AFRICAN TERMITES. 39 



nearly mature male uympli. In the case of the queen of T. 

 iiatalensis and also the queens of Odontotermes spp., there 

 is a post-adult change in spiracles IV to X which m.ay be 

 described as a disruption of the organ, the valves being" torn 

 asunder. In mobile queens, those that have the free run of 

 the hive, such as Eutermes (trinervius group) and Hodo- 

 termes viator and others, this disruption does not occur. 

 It may also be mentioned here that in winged females of 

 Hodotermes sj^ji. the Avhole series III to X attain to an 

 equal condition, fig. 35, and in the male, IV to X attain to a 

 stage somewhat more advanced than that of the winged 

 male of Termes natal en sis. Compare figs. 36a, b, c with 

 fig. 31a. The thumb-like process or bracket of the resister 

 is a very pronounced development in Hodotermes. 



For a considerable period of nymphal life, the spiracles of 

 the abdomen are more or less unchanged. In the newly- 

 hatched young, this organ (measuring approximately 0"08 

 mm.) looks like a little pitcher with a long neck and a round 

 mouth. The mouth is the pore, the neck the atrium; and the 

 ascidiiim, as it may be called, is the lever. Each spiracle lies 

 in a dorsal position within the rolled-in edge of the tergite, 

 and its long axis is parallel to that of the body, the pore 

 facing backwards ; and, except in the adult female (series IV 

 to X), the caudo-lateral corner of the tergite forms a hood 

 over it. Lying as it does, it has four aspects : a dorsal, a 

 ventral, an internal or visceral, and an external. Upon the 

 visceral side there is an outlet, formed by the separation there 

 of the atrium from the ascidium ; through this the air passes 

 from the spiracle into a short membranous tube, and from this 

 into the mouth of the pipe. Since the pipe is directed down- 

 wards and outwards it slants towards the spiracle and makes 

 its union with it someAvhat at a right angle. At the base of 

 the atrium there is a vestige of a small plate. The spiracle 

 and its connections, therefore, comprise the features shown in 

 fig. 23a. 



Taken separately, these may be described as follows : 



(1) The pore or stigma; a circular opening surrounded by 



