88 Proceedings of Ti)Olav.a Academy of Science. 



the winged colonizing adults takes place (males and females) ; secondly, 

 when the characteristic damage that these insects do to buildings and thcii- 

 contents or to living plants is first noted. Fifteen reports of swarming or 

 injury were obtained this year and in eight cases specimens were collected 

 all of which proved to be R. flavipes Kollar. 



The first swarming of termites this year was on February 29th. This 

 was in a house in the northern part of Indianapolis. The time of swarm- 

 ing was 4 :00 p. m. and the temperature out-of-doors was 50° F. and indoors 

 about 70° F. No specimens of this swarm were obtained and no subse- 

 quent swarming took place. 



The second swarming was in a factory building in Indianapolis on March 

 5th, 1920. The temperature out-of-doors was 10° F. and there was six inches 

 of snow on the ground. The indoor temperature ranged from 50° F. at 

 night to 70° F. and over in the day time. The swarming here took place 

 between 8:30 and 10:00 a. m., the maximum emergence occuring about 

 9:00 a. m., and occurred daily at this time for four successive days. 



On March 15th and April 5th R. flavipes swarmed in the Experiment Sta- 

 tion Building at Purdue University at West Lafayette. Specimens of the 

 April 5th swarm were collected and forwarded to the writer by R. W. 

 Hosmer of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



The first out-of-door swarming of R. flaripes recorded this year took place 

 in the southeastern part of Indianapolis simultaneously with an indoor 

 swarming at the same locality on April 21st. From the location of tlu' 

 points of emergency indoors and out-of-doors there is no doubt that this 

 swarming was from the same nest. It took place daily between 8 :00 anc: 

 9 :00 a. m. over a period of three days. This swarming followed a heavy 

 rain of 2.3 inches on April 20th and a total rainfall of over 3 inches between 

 April 17th and 20th. 



The next out-of-door swarming in Indianapolis occurred on May 26tli 

 at 11 :00 a. m. and in the same locality, but from a different nest, on 

 June 3rd about an hour earlier. Only a single swarm emerged from each of 

 these nests. The swarming on May 26th was not directly correlated with 

 any rainfall but that of June 3rd followed a heavy shower on May 31st. 



Snyder (1) following the phenological work of Hopkins (2 and 3) shows 

 that the fir.^t swarming of 7?. flavipes is correlated with the blooming i. e. 

 ripening of the pollen of the large flowering dogwood Cynoxylon (Cornus) 

 floridum Linn. This is based on six years' observation. However, in Indian- 

 apolis the first out-of-door swarming, April 21st, occurred almost two weeks 

 before dogwoods bloomed and the second and third, May 26th and June 

 3rd, out-of-door swarms occurred two weeks after all dogwoods had dis- 

 appeared. At the time of the second and third out-of-door swarming 

 dates, grai^es and blackberries were blooming. 



No fall swarms of R. flavipes were reported this year though in 1919 this 

 occurred in the house where the spring swarming took place on April 21st. 



The only swarming of Reticulitermes mrglnicus Banks observed was on 

 July 1st. The winged adults were seen flying across a large vacant lot 

 between 9:30 and 10:00 a. m. It was a clear bright day with a high rela- 

 tive humidity and temperature. This swarming occurred a month after 



