REVISIOX OF NEARCTIC TERMITES. 125 



had been showers in afternoon and evening, sultry cloudy weather, 

 temperature 68° F. 



Josef Brunner later collected winged adults of this species at 

 Clinton, about 15 miles east of Missoula, Montana, at 10.30 p. m., 

 August 1, 1916, and at Orchard Homes, about 4 miles from Missoula, 

 Montana, in the Missoula River bottom on August 24. Brunner 

 states that there are no conifers except Juniperus within 4 or 5 miles 

 of this locality. All acted very excitedly on account of the light, 

 alighting on a tree and running around, then again fluttering around 

 the light. Light appears to make termites even more excitable than 

 moths. 



Brunner writes : 



By June 15, at Missoula, Mont., the pollen of yellow pine was falling like clouds of 

 dust. This marked the first appearance of termites flying and attracted to lights. As 

 specimens of termites were collected or observed at lights regularly from that time on 

 xmtil August 24. it appears that their flying period is so extended that to attempt to 

 correlate it with a certain stage of plant life is without value. While the season of 

 flight extended over a long period, there were but few nights when the insects actually 

 did fly. These were the few really waiTu nights during the season. In warmer sea- 

 sons, when the ground everywhere is warmed up more uniformly, it is very likely 

 that the flying period is cut short (?). At Orchard Homes the country looks as if it 

 should be about the warmest aroimd about here. In reality it was the coldest last sea- 

 son, and the sandy soil did not seem to warm up during the entire season. 



After the "swarm" or the emergence of large numbers from the 

 parent colony in the late spring or autumn, just at dusk, unlike 

 species of Reticulitermes, these termites do not fall to the ground 

 after a short flight, shed their wings, and begin excavating in the 

 ground under decaying wood. These insects fly about seeking holes, 

 loose bark, or decayed places in trees. Then they shed their wings 

 and begin to burrow into the decayed area. The wingless adults are 

 very active and are able to jump up into tlie air by peculiar jerky 

 movements. 



Three types of reproductive forms have been found in colonies of 

 Termopsis angusticollis Hagen and nevadensis Hagen — ^the normal or 

 first form with stubs of wings (fig. 65), the second form with rudi- 

 mentary or short wing pads, and that of the third form with no 

 wing pads (fig. 66, 2). In either type the queen is active and the 

 abdomen is not remarkably distended. Indeed, from the speci- 

 mens so far collected, the queens of Termopsis are relatively small. 

 The males flip themselves up in the air and often fall over back- 

 wards in attempting to escape. As in Reticulitermes, there may be 

 several of the third form reproductive adults in the same colony. No 

 wing pads are present on these forms, which develop shortly after 

 the loss of the reproductive forms of the normal type. They have 

 straw-colored pigmentation, but this is not different from that of the 

 nymphs of the reproductive forms, or worker-hke individuals. There 

 is pigment in the eyes, which, however, are evidently functionless. 



