112 NORTHERN TERRITORY TERMITID.'E,!.^ 



were found in the trunk, about three feet from the ground, 

 crawling in a mass of comminuted wood saturated with gum and 

 offensive-smelling fluid. On splitting the trunk downwards, the 

 termites were found in irregular vertical passages through the 

 green wood to a depth of about twelve inches from the fork. 

 The passages were partly filled with comminuted wood, gum, and 

 fluid, and were inhabited by the termites and fruit-fly larvie. 

 The extremities of the passages were drier, and were occupied 

 chiefly by termices of the worker-caste. The individuals com- 

 prised about 100 soldiers, about 400 adult workers, one male 

 (the king), a number of larvae and nymphse (measuring up to 

 4 mm. in length), and about 50 eggs. The queen was evidently 

 shaken out, and lost in the long grass, which surrounded the 

 trunk. The majority of these were secured as specimens, and 

 the remainder, about 12 soldiers, 50 adult workers, and numerous 

 nymphse, were removed, with several fruit-fly larvae, in portion 

 of the stump to a breeding-jar. 



The remaining portion of the stump was examined, and found 

 to be intact for a height of 2 feet from the ground. There was 

 no trace of an external coverway up the outer side, or a passage 

 up the interior from the ground, such as are always found when 

 trees are attacked by other species of termites known to the 

 writer. In this case, the tree was attacked at the fork, about 

 three feet from the ground, and hollowed out to within about 

 one-eighth of an inch of the bark. 



The fruit-fly larvae pupated between 8th and 15th August, 

 and the flies emerged between 1st and 9th September. 



Up to 5th August, none of the nymphae showed developing 

 wing-pads, nor could any of them be differentiated as destined to 

 become soldiers or complementary queens. On 1st September, 

 three, young, complementary queens were found amongst the 

 nymphae, one of which was preserved, while the remaining two 

 were kept alive for observation. On 22nd September, many of 

 the nymphae could be separated, by the development which had 

 taken place in the meso- and metanota since 5th August, as 

 destined to become winged-forms. The little colony was now 

 well established, and should have provided a good deal of inter- 



