KEVISION OF NE ARCTIC TEEMITES. 89 



6. Soldier with two pointed jaws or mandibles absent, but nasuti with central 



pointed beak present 7 



Soldier with two pointed mandibles present 8 



Soldier absent; workers gray, with bag-shaped body, and saddle-shaped pro thorax 



Anoplotermes fumosus Hagen. 



7. Nasutus with nonconstricted head Nasutiierm.es. 



Nasutus with constricted head Constrictotermes 



8. Soldier with two pointed mandibles and saddle-shaped prothorax. 



Amitermes tubiformans Buckley; A. arizonicus Banks; 



BIOLOGICAL NOTES. 



Nests. 



Unlike some tropical termites, our native species do not construct 

 huge mounds but live in burrows in the earth or in wood. There is 

 no permanent "royal cell," centrally located, in which the "king" 

 and "queen" are imprisoned, and there are no "fungus gardens" 

 or "nurseries." Nevertheless, the nests, or colonies of these social 

 insects, while hidden or nonconspicuous, are as interesting and worthy 

 of study as those of tropical species. 



As Haviland (1902) has said: 



Termites injfiabit all the warm regions of the earth in countless numbers. They are 

 unable to withstand a prolonged winter's frost. Their greatest enemies are ants. 

 Their chief means of defense is their power of burrowing and building. 



Our native termites may be divided by their habits into three 

 groups: Wood-inhabiting species, which do not burrow into the 

 ground; those which hve in the ground and infest wood indirectly 

 through the ground, and earth-inhabiting species, which do not 

 burrow in wood. Species in both the latter groups may be termed 

 subterranean termites. 



SUBTERRANEAN SPECIES. 



The termites of this group belong to the family Termitidae, sub- 

 famihes Rhinotermitmae and Termitinae. All of the species in the 

 subfamily Rhinotermitinae of the genus Reticulitermes and some 

 species of Amitermes are essentially wood destroyers and live in 

 forests, building their nests in the wood of dead trees, decaying logs 

 and stumps; m the foundation timbers of buildings, fences, and any 

 wood in contact with the ground; or in a labyrinth of imderground 

 passages in the earth, usually underneath wood or vegetation. 



These subterranean termites are the most mjurious to the foun- 

 dation timbers, woodwork, and contents of buildings. The species 

 of Reticulitermes even bridge over substances they can not penetrate, 

 such as metal or stone, brick, or concrete foundations, by means 

 of small shelter sheds or granular, earth-hke tubes constructed of 

 110162— 20— Bull. 108 7 



