Notes on (hi 'rcniiHrs. 89 



no wluMi the Aniciii-iii 



ne when indoor swarni- 

 nd is determined large- 

 Idinj;. Tlie locatiou of 

 the ('umuhitive mean 

 indoor tompartnres and averajje rciatixr huiiiidilx will liavo on it. Out- 

 of-door.s the time of swarminff depends on the (•uiiiniat ivc nicaii temperatures 

 and the mean rehitive humidity. 



The swarmiiifi of termites in a huildinti should in general he regarded 

 as' a dan.irer signal. It is neiMliess to sa.v that it is a great annoyance to 

 have these awkward colonizing adults aimlessly Hying into one's face or 

 into any foods that ai-e expose<l. Yet during the past season we have 

 found two cases where swarming took place and where careful inspection 

 faileil fo reveal any damage to the Imildiiigs in which it occurred. Like- 

 wise, we have found two infestations in Imildings from which no swarms 

 emerged. Tliis naturally hrings u]) the ipiestion as to the factors that 

 cause a colony to swarm. These factors, though still imi->erfectly under- 

 stood, are: ll) the kind of reproductive forms in the colony; (2) the a.ge 

 and size of the colony: and (.'5) the influence of instinct. 



The role of swarming in the life economy of a colony is another point of 

 interest. In the case of early swarming indoors the value of swarming is 

 hard to see as i>ractically all the adults emerging, if they are not killed, 

 lierisli. 'i'his is because conditions necessary for the establishment of new 

 colonies are seldom present. Out-of-doors the opportunities for the found- 

 ing of new colonies are greater. But even out-of-doors immense numbers 

 of colonizing adults perish. On May 20th ])ractically all termites R. flavipes 

 rliat emerged were eaten as soon as they issued by a large flock of sparrows 

 that gathered for the oc asion. In the swarming of R. virc/inicKS on July 

 1st it was observed that adults alighting on the ground were immediately 

 snatched up and dragged off by the workers of the common corn-field ant 

 L«.s-/».v /)///(■/• Tjnn. var. jmcricaiiit-s Emery. 



Termite Injury. 



The injury that Indiana termites do is of two kinds, namely that which is 

 done to buildings and their contents and that which is done to living 

 l>lants. The mendiers of the genus UcUcuUtcrmes are subterranean in- 

 sects. Tender normal cnnditions in nature they feed on stumps, logs, and 

 wood debris, straw, inaiinre, and leaves. P.ut with the advance of civiliza- 

 \w\\ much of the food of termites has been removed, forcing the insects 

 either to retreat before this advance or to adapt themselves to the new 

 order of things. They have cho~en the latter course to a certain extent, at 

 least, as is shown by the injury they do to living cultivated plants and to 

 buildings and their contents. Tlies(> insects are justly classed among our 

 most destructive wood-boreis. 



There is one thing that is ab.solulely essential for a colony of Indiana 

 termites to nuiintain itself and that is a ready access to moisture. This is 

 olitained from the ground. Given a cimstant supply of moisture these 

 insects are able to tunnel in the comparatively dry woodwork of buildings 



