BY G. F. HILL. 107 



traversed by many passages and flattened galleries (the latter 

 mostly near the base, and evidently forming the " nursery "). 

 The base rested partly on the sandy surface of the soil, and 

 partly on a dead stump (Eugenia), now eaten away to the ground- 

 level. The nest contained a great number of matured winged 

 forms and many soldiers, but few workers and eggs. Unfortu- 

 nately, owing to the lateness of the hour, and the fact that the 

 species was not recognised as being distinct from others pre- 

 viously investigated, no special effort w^as made to secure the 

 queen. A second and similar termitarium was found over the 

 remnant of a Eucalypt-tree (at Koolpinyah, 30/5/13). Tn this 

 case, the interior contained a quantity of larval excrement of 

 the Cetonid beetle, Ilemiphai'is insularis, the pellets being either 

 loose or cemented together in masses in the lower galleries. 

 Numerous Hemlj^haris larvte and pupae were found near the 

 remaining underground portion of the stump. 



i/a6.— Koolpinyah, Northern Territory (G. F. Hill, 21/11/13). 

 Types (No.87) in Entomologist's Office, Department of Agricul- 

 ture, N.T. 



EuTERMES TRiODiiE Froggatt. (Plates xx.-xxiii.) 



Froggatt, op. cit., 1897, p. 745. 



Travellers on the Darwin-Pine Creek Railway are familiar 

 with the great termitaria of the Spinifex Termite, and many 

 writers have referred to them in past years. 



The mounds, or termitaria, are found on almost all kinds of 

 soils, and in various situations, but rarely, in the Territory at 

 any rate, on black peaty soils or on rocky hill-sides. They are 

 commonly found on sour, stiff, grey soil or sandy flats, on tim- 

 bered or treeless land, on dry gravelly or scrubby country, and 

 in the little gullies amongst the low sandstone ridges (Plates xx.- 

 xxiii.). 



The starting-point of a termitarium is invariably a tussock of 

 coarse grass, never a stump, tree, or log. They vary considerably 

 in size, shape, and relative density, but all are constructed 

 entirely of fine particles of earth and sand, cemented together 

 with proctodseal and salivary products. The interior is a maze 

 of irregular chambers and passages, which are, in most cases 



