The Termites of South Africa 49 



Silvestri in his remarks upon allocerus states that it is quite 

 distinct from P.h^bostoma Desneux inasmuch as the major soldiers 

 are smaller and have antennae with a maximum of XIII joints. 

 The second contention falls away. The difference in size appears 

 considerable, e.g. maximum length 1 1 against 10 to 15 mm., head- 

 width 1.9 against 2.5 mm. It is, however, quite possible for 

 h\fhostoma to be a large locality form or race just as is the worker 

 type of Hodotermes viator Latr. 



Sjostedt's soldier of P.fuscofemoralis must be, from the descrip- 

 tion, quite agreeable with the small soldiers of allocerus. As be- 

 tween his fuscofemoralis and assuanerisis the only differences are 

 size, the number of teeth to the left mandible and the hollows on 

 either side of the clypeus (epistome). All these are features of 

 the soldiers of allocerus. It is true that for both these insects 

 Sjostedt describes a channel (Rinne) running forward from the 

 fontanelle, but this reference is conceivably to the duct which is 

 exhibited by the soldiers of allocerus. 



To these remarks it may be added that Silvestri (1914) has 

 determined the Psammotermes found by him in Senegal as fuscofe- 

 moralis and Holmgren (1913) determined as this species that 

 from Zululand. 



If future studies show the synonomy to be as here set out, then 

 we have a variable and remarkable species almost encircling 

 the African continent. That this should be the case is 

 all the more interesting because it is contrary to my experience 

 wdth South African species in general, most of which have a limited 

 range, and then tend to vary more or less decidedly according to 

 one environmental factor or another. 



The insect now under reference as P. allocerus certainly extends 

 from van Rhynsdorp, on the south, to Angololand, and may be 

 classed as one peculiar to the Namib veld. It is, however, knovm 

 to exist in the valley of the Orange River to at least one hundred 

 mile? from the sea. The part of Zululand from which Holmgren 

 reported fuscofemoralis I have never visited, but I know it to be 

 of a sandy nature. There the conditions are tropical andj^££U^ 

 liar. y \^S^ .^ 



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