TERMITES OR WHITE ANTS. 66U 



and th(> latter have a transparent tip to tlie labruni and a toothless 

 maro'in to the mandibk^s. The second is represented h^^ T. viihjaris; 

 it hiiihls insignificantly small mounds or none at all; the imago is large, 

 but the soldiers are of moderate size, ha\e a t"ev\^ bristles at the tip 

 of the labrum and a miiuite tooth at the middle of the cutting margin 

 of each mandible, or at any rate of the left one. The last group, repre- 

 sented by T. Incciius^ has individuals of moderate size and quite difi'er- 

 ent habit from those of the previous gi'oups. 



A remarkable group, in which the soldiers have a very large foramen 

 in front of the head, from which when angry they can discharge a 

 copious viscid milky fluid, has been given the subgeneric name Ck)pt<t- 

 ternies b}' Herr Wasmann. The group is quite worthy of generic 

 rank. 



Another remarkable group, in which the soldiers have a minute 

 foramen in front of the head and a long labrum reaching to the tips 

 of the strongl}' toothed mandibles, was given the sul)generic name 

 liJiinotermes by, Dr. Hagen. This group also is worthy of generic 

 rank. * * * 



These groups, the fungus-growers, Coptotertncs and lihiuoferiiies^ 

 have soldiers with pronotum more or less flat, and antenniv of usually 

 more than 14 segments, and abdominal papilla; usually easily visible. 

 They have imagos in which the wings show the median nerve midway 

 between the sul)median and subcostal. The remaining groups, con- 

 taining much the larger number of the species, have imagos, in which 

 the wings show the median nerve much nearer the submedian than the 

 subcostal, and soldiers whose antennae have seldom more than 14 seg- 

 ments. It is to these that Dr. Hagen gave the subgeneric name 

 EuterriieK; they comprise numerous groups, with difficult}" recognized 

 by the imagos, but readily recognized b}' the soldiers. The Euterme 

 had been previously applied by Heer to some fossil forms of the genus 

 Termes^ known only from the imago, and in one case only from the 

 wings. The name was limited by Dr. Fritz Midler to a much smaller 

 group, that in which the soldiers have rudimentary mandibles and a 

 long, conical rostrum. He raised this group to generic rank. It is a 

 natural group, worthy of generic rank, if indeed it be not worthy of 

 forming several genera, but it was not in this sense that Heer or Hagen 

 used the name Euternits. * * * 



The species of the genus Terints seem in some cases to be very distinct 

 and readily distinguishable, and in other cases to pass indistinguish- 

 ably into one another. In the grou})s in which the species are not easily 

 distinguishable, I have not attempted to outdo nature in distinctness; 

 indeed, in this respect I am conscious of shortcomings. \\\ every case 

 I trust that more reliance will be placed on mv specimens than on m}^ 

 descriptions. 



