PAKACOROTOCA AKERMANI (wARRP^n). o05 



way from one nest to another. It is conceival)le that the 

 larvee attach themselves to the imagos of the termites issuing 

 from the nest, and if such should be the case the beetle-larva 

 would be associated with a pair of termites from the foundation 

 of the colony. The only other supposition that seems possible 

 is that occasionally under favourable atmospheric conditions, 

 and probably at night, the adult beetles or larvas wander out 

 of the parent nest, and, meeting with foraging workers 

 belonging to a neighbouring nest, retuim with them instead 

 of with their former comrades. The adult beetle is very 

 scarce, and it must often happen that only one individual is 

 in a nest. Under such circumstances the sexual imjndse 

 would certainly induce a tendency to wander out of the nest. 



These three suppositions would seem to exhaust the possible 

 means of dispersal, provided the larval, pupal and imago 

 stages are all undergone within the termite nest. Now, in 

 the case of Corotoca it is stated by Schiodte that the larva? 

 are produced viviparously, and the extraordinary development 

 of muscle which occurs around the oviduct of Paracorotoca 

 supports the belief that this genus is also viviparous. Further, 

 we have good evidence to regard the peculiar Staphylinid 

 larvas fairly commonly occurring in the nests of Eutermes 

 as those of Paracorotoca. Also, Tragardh found eggs in 

 the oviduct of Termitomimus, which appeared to be on the 

 point of issuing from the body, and, as already mentioned, it 

 is extremely probable that the larva ^ has been found in a nest. 

 Similarly in the case of Termitomya, certain insect eggs 

 larger than those of the termites have been found in the 

 nests inhabited by this dipteron, and Wasmann regards them 

 as being its eggs. Thus the available evidence is entirely 

 against the view that the larval stages of these termitophilous 

 insects are passed outside the nest. 



On the whole it is probable that the sexual impulse to 



' An outline figure of tins larva is given in my paper. " Termites and 

 Termitophiles." Presidential Address, Section D, East London, 1919, 

 ' South African Association for the Advancement of Science.' Report, 

 vol. xvi, p. 99, pi. 9, fig. B, 1919. 



