BY G. F. HILL. 95 



as head, divided across the middle by a deep depression, the 

 apical half rounded in front, and turned up like a collar, the 

 sides curving round to the hind margin, which is slightly indented. 

 Abdomen elongate-oval, round in section; cerci large, hairy, pale 

 ferruginous in colour, and conspicuous against the whitish body. 

 Claws and tibial spines stout. 



Wo7-ker . —Head pale yellow; thorax, legs, and antennae lighter; 

 the rest of the insect whitish. Length, 31 mm. Head large, 

 round. Clypeus large, convex, lobed, a dark spot at each end. 

 Labrum large, widest in the middle, contracted towards the 

 truncate apex. Prothorax narrow, divided by a deep depression, 

 apical half rounded, and turned up like a collar, hind margin 

 rounded. Abdomen elongate-oval. Legs stout; claws and 

 spines small; cerci large. 



The type and cotype specimens were taken from a small termi- 

 tarium composed of a blackish-coloured composition of triturated 

 wood and eaith, built against the trunk of a living Eucalypt- 

 tree. 



In common with allied species, both the soldiers and workers 

 are timid, and make no effort to defend themselves when dis- 

 turbed. The soldiers produce a sharp, snapping sound with the 

 jaws, which are normally carried horizontally, and meet only at 

 the tips. In dead specimens, the jaws are almost invariably 

 depressed, and crossed at the base. 



Excepting in the paler colour of the head (soldier), this species 

 does not differ from a mainland-form taken in company with a 

 smaller termite (7^. nana) in a blackish-coloured mass of triturated 

 wood and earth, within a cluster of bamboos growing in the 

 Botanic Gardens, Darwin. 



Hab. — Fort Dundas, Melville Island, Northern Territory (G. 

 F. Hill, 12/4/14). Type (No. 115) in the Entomologist's Office, 

 Department of Agriculture, N.T. . 



COPRITERMES TaYLORI, Sp.nOV. 



Winged form not known. 



Neoteinic queen. — Head, thorax, and chitinous plates of abdo- 

 men light yellow; legs and antennae paler; rest of body creamy- 



