87 

 \OTi:s f)X TiiK TKUMrri:s of Indiana. 



HY 



Hakkv v. Diktz, 



Assistant lOiitoiiiDlo^iisl. I »cp;irl incut of Coiisorvatinn.' 



Termites. «v '•wiiite ants' as they .;!•(■ p ipula il.v known, aiv insects that 



lia\c ferced tlieniselves un tlie altenti f enloniolofiists because of their 



((•(inoniie inipdilance. i'.eeanse of their life liistory and hahits and the fact 

 that they live in cdlonies or social communities, the individuals of which 

 liehini: l<i (lilTeriMit castes, there is no rea.son wliy termites .should not at- 

 iracl more attention than tliey do from l>iol(»gists in general. Tlie inter- 

 estiiiiT work of Snyder (1. .".. {',. 7. lit' and Thompson (11-14 inclusive) 

 l:ear out this statement. 



The present paper deals with oiiservations (m these insects with special 

 refeience to their economic aspects. I'ntil recently there has been a ten- 

 dency anuin^: eiitomolcjrists to re^'ard the termites of the T'nited States, 

 cast of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio I'ivcr. as (»ne species, namely 

 IfctirulHeinicx {LcucotcrmcH) flariix-s KoUar. This is in spite of the fact 

 that Snyder and lianks (1. (I. 7) have pointed out that there are two 

 oilier species of the same uenns h'cticiililcniics namely h'. Iitn/oii Banks and 

 /*. ririnniciiH Banks whose ran.iie in this country are at present not W'ell 

 defined. These two species were both found and described since 1907 from 

 Falls (Jhurch. Virginia, a few mile.s from Wa.shington, I>. ('. It should be 

 pointed out that this region is one that has literally been "combed" by 

 entomologists since the formation of the I". S. Department of Agriculture. 

 It is therefore quite possible that intensive work will reveal not only the 

 presence of R. hagcni Banks and R. virf/iiiicus Banks over a wider area than 

 they are now known to occur but also the presence of one or more new 

 species. 



Disirihiilion of Termites in Indiana. 



Reficulitermes flaiipe.s Kollar is the only species that until the present 

 lime has been recorded in Indiana. Snyder (7) records it from the vicinity 

 of South Bend. Indianapolis, and .Teffersonville. During the past season 

 Columbus and Lafayette have been added to this known distribution. 



Reficulitermes Virginians Banks was collected for the first time in Indiana 

 at Indianapolis on July 1. 1020, by the writer. The forms collected were 

 winged colonizing adults. The nearest point to Indiana from which this 

 s])ecies has been recorded is Okolona, near Louisville, Kentucky (Banks. 1). 



Reticulitermes hagcni Banks probably occurs in Indiana, though the near- 

 est point to our State from which it is recorded is Kane, Greene County. 

 Illinois (Banks, 1). 



t^ivarming. 



There are two times when termites are rejwrted to the Division of En- 

 tomology. These are as follows : First, when the annual swarming of 



.■u Pubhshed with the permission of the Cliii'f of tli." Division of Entoninloirv 

 the Director of the Department of ConseniUioii of Indiana. 

 -The figures in parenthesis refer to the Literature cited. 



