94 NORTHERN TERRITORY TERMITlDjE^ i., 



it is probable that they are used, since several termitaria, from 

 which queens were removed, were immediately repaired, and 

 have since been increased to their original size. 



A fully-developed gravid queen measures about 18 mm. in 

 length, by 6 mm. in width at the widest part of the abdomen. 



Winged swarms leave the termitaria in December and January, 

 but a few winged insects may be found in them months later. 



When disturbed, the soldiers eject a small quantity of milky 

 secretion from a circular opening above the jaws, a habit that at 

 once distinguishes them from other local species. 



This species is not infrequently met with in company with 

 Rhi^iotermes reticulattis, but, unlike Rhinotermes, they are rarely 

 found in buildings, and never (to the writer's knowledge) in 

 cultivated plants. 



Loc. - Darwin, Stapleton, Melville Island, Bathurst Island. 



COPRITERMES MeLVILLENSIS, Sp.nOV. 



Winged form not known. 



Soldier. — Head yellow, thorax, antennae, and legs paler, the 

 apex of each antennal segment banded with white; jaws dark 

 castaneous; rest of insect whitish. Length, 3^ mm. exclusive of 

 jaws; jaws IJmm. Head long, slender, cylindrical, bluntly 

 rounded behind, straight on the sides to near the truncate front. 

 Forehead produced into a cone-shaped projection, which is 

 directed slightly upwards, and extends as far forward as the 

 apex of the labrum, bearing a wart-like protuberance on either 

 side between the base and the antennal cleft. Clypeus small, 

 rounded in front. Labrum long, nearly straight on the sides, 

 truncate at the apex, with either side produced into a slender 

 point, anterior half with a patch of ochreous and scattered hairs, 

 the rest white. Antennae long, stout, hairy, 14-jointed, springing 

 from a circular protuberance situated within a deep angular 

 depression in front of the head; 1st joint long, stout, cylindrical; 

 2nd one-half the diameter and length; 3rd and 4th smallest, 

 moniliform; 5th to 13th increasing in length, turbinate; 14th 

 elongate. Jaws very long, longer than head, similar to Copri- 

 termes Froggatti, and C. Taylori. Prothorax small, not as wide 



