148 BULLETIN 108, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Florida ; previously it has only been found along the seacoast (Miami 

 Beach, across Biscayne Bay) and on the offshore keys. 



In one colony in this locality young reproductive individuals of 

 the third form were found; they were very young, but the head and 

 body are pigmented a dark yellowish-brown color. There are 17 

 to 18 segments to the antennae; 4 were males and 7 females. The 

 abdomens of these females or young queens were but slightly 

 distended. 



SWARMING. 



It is not known when this termite swarms in the United States. 

 In Cuba, P. simplex swarms during the last part of October. 



Recently established or incipient colonies are small in numbers, 

 comparing with similar colonies of Reticulitermes; they consist of 

 not more than one dozen individuals. Such colonies are established 

 under bark, at the bases of dead trees, just above ground, or in logs; 

 in holes or wounds in trees; or in the abandoned burrows of wood- 

 boring beetles in logs and trees. In red mangrove swamps the 

 empty pupal cells of the mangrove borer (Chrysohothris tranqueharica 

 Gmelin) are commonly utilized. 



The eggs are white, reniform, approximately 0.8 to 1 mm. in 



length. 



References to biological or economic literature. 



1918. Caudell, a. N. Can. Ent., vol. 50, No. 11, pp. 375-81, Nov. 



1919. Banks, N. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Camb., Mass., vol. 62, No. 10, p. 480. 

 1919. Snyder, T. E. Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 97-104, May. 

 1919. Thompson, C. B. Biol. Bull., vol. 36, No. 6, p. 379-398, June. 



Genus RETICULITERMES Holmgren. 



The species of this genus are of relatively northern distribution 

 throughout the world; they are subterranean in habit and are among 

 the most destructive wood borers. Colonies are found in dead trees, 

 logs, and stumps and in the ground under wood, stones, and manure, 

 etc. They usually follow the grain when burrowing in wood and 

 honeycomb it; moisture is absolutely necessary. Species of this 

 genus are widely distributed throughout the United States, but are 

 not so common in the far north and far Southern States. 



The limits of a colony are hard to defuie; a single colony may 

 extend over considerable ground. Old colonies contain large num- 

 bers of individuals, probably running up into the ten thousands. 

 The habits of two species of this genus have already been discussed 

 in detail (Snyder, 1915, 1916, and 1916a). All of our native species 

 of Reticulitermes appear to have similar general habits, differing, how- 

 ever, in the time of swarming. Apparently different species never 

 swarm simultaneously in the same locality. 



