26 Claude Fuller 



b. Nest-site always indicated by several pits in soil, 

 flat or covered by a raised mound ; mouths of pits 

 surrounded with clay pipes; queens large, im- 

 prisoned in cells. 



(i) Pipes thin walled, tenuous and tapering, 

 sometimes 6 feet high. 



Distribution : Transvaal Bush Veld, Kalahari 

 and Vaal River Valley (West). 



Termes transvaaJensis. 



(ii) Pipes thick walled, turret-like, three inches 

 to two feet high. 



Distribution : General for Natal and Trans- 

 vaal. Termes latericius s. lat. 



c. Nest site covered by mound of loose soil, not un- 

 like that of new grave; usually amongst trees; 

 infrequently becoming compact and hard by 

 weathering; usually with mole-hill like mound- 

 lets on or next to main mound. Soldiers large 

 and aggressive with sword-shaped mandibles; 

 queens imprisoned in clay cells. 

 Distribution: Transvaal, Waterberg area. 



Macrotermes waterhergi, 



d. Nests in or below hard mounds of cemented earth. 



(i) Nests as large cavities, down to 4 feet below 

 soil level. Queens large, imprisoned in clay 

 cells. Mounds fairly characteristic when 

 not grass-grown. 



aa. Mound roughly dome-shaped, covered 

 with large knobs or moundlets of hard 

 texture shaped like warts. Soldiers 

 large ; aggressive ; with sword-shaped 

 mandibles. A destructive species. 

 Distribution: Foothills of Drakensberg 

 in Eastern low veld of Transvaal and 

 Swaziland. Macrotermes swaziae. 



bb. Mounds conical. 



i. Tall mounds, 10 feet and upwards; 

 may be very large and grass-grown, 

 then often with a clay column at 

 apex. Soldiers with sword-shaped 

 mandibles, 

 a. Very destructive, found in Dama- 

 raland; Ovomboland; Valley of 

 Limpopo; Portuguese East Af- 

 rica ; west of Lebombo Mountains. 

 Macrotermes belUcosus s. lat. 

 t. Very destructive, found in Trans- 

 vaal Eastern low veld. 



Macrotermes natalensis f. 

 intermedius. 

 2. Mounds not tall ; 3 to 4 feet or, rarely, 

 6 feet high. 



