I08 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION D. 



in South America ; also the numbers of termitophilous 

 Scaraibseids in Africa and South America seem to differ widely. 

 From these facts we judge that the termitophilous beetles 

 do not constitute a special fauna common to all the termite 

 regions, and descended from an ancient termitophilous fauna 

 distributed with the termites in past geological periods. The 

 very marked superficial similarity in the more highly specialised 

 termitophilous beetles, such as Corotoca of South America and 

 Paracorotoca of Africa must be regarded as due to convergent 

 evolution starting from a different origin in the two regions. 



On the other hand the occurrence of the genera Termito- 

 disciis, Corythodcrus, and certain Myrmedonia species in both 

 Africa and the Indo-Malay Region indicates a somewhat close 

 connection between these two termitophile faunas. 



If we now turn to the other termitophilous arthropods in 

 the table, we find that, with the exception of the minute 

 Thymnura, which have been insufficiently investigated, the 

 numbers of recorded species are quite small. It is interesting 

 to note that' the various groups listed tend to be represented in 

 all the regions, thus indicating that these groups possess a certain 

 definite adaptibility not present in other arthropod groups. 



There is an obvious similarity in the numbers of 

 such recorded termitophilous species in the different termite 

 regions ; thus in the South American and African regions we 

 find the respective numbers in the Isoptcra to be 2, 3 ; in the 

 Formicidcr, 7, 8; in the Dipt era, 5, 6; in the Acari, 5, 5; and 

 in Myriapoda, 3, 4. 



The main exceptions which appear are the termitophilous 

 Apidcc, described only from South America, and the Isopoda from 

 Africa. 



Among the more interesting and specialised termitophiles 

 occurring in these different groups of arthropods are the 

 termitophilous ApJiidcr (Tennifocoridcr) and the Diptera. 



The physogastric dipteron Tcrmitoxenva {Phorido') has short, 

 peculiar thoracic appendages which, according to Wasmann, are 

 the wings modified into exudatory organs. Wasmann further 

 states that Tcnnitoxcuia is hermaphrodite, and the lafval stage 

 is lost in the ontogeny. This genus or allied genera are found 

 in Africa, India, Ceylon, and the ATalay Region. The Phoridce 

 belong to the Bvachyccra, and Tcnnitoxenia possesses short 

 modified antennae. In South America the nearest representative 

 to Tenmtoxenia from a termitophilous aspect is the physogastric 

 genus Termitomastus (Tcnnifoiiiasfidcr) belonging to the Nemo- 

 cera; here the antennae are long, filiform structures, and the 

 wings are less modified than in Tcnnitoxcuia. 



Thus, again, in these diverse arthropod groups we notice 

 that the termitophile faunas in the different termite-regions do 

 not exhibit a fundamental unity which would warrant a belief 

 in the existence of a special termitophile fauna descended from 



