(572 TERMITES OK WHITE ANTS. 



plates of the Tth, 8th, and 9th ahdoniiiial segments. In all species of 

 the genus Tcviik's the al)domen subsequently swells to many times its 

 original size; l)ut this swelling is not aocompanied by any molting; 

 the chitinous plates do not alter, hut l)ecomc separated by the disten- 

 sion of the intervening cuticle. '■'■ " '• In most groups there arc 

 present a number of minute lateral thickenings, usually colored, and 

 bearing each a hair. 



When, as in most species, the queen is inclosed in a royal cell from 

 which she is too large to escape, a familiarity with the nest and hal)its 

 of the species will lead to her discovery without much trouble; but in 

 all species other than the fungus-growers the king can leave the royal 

 cell, and generally does so when he finds the nest is being opened. 

 In many species, however, the queen wanders about the nest, and she 

 then seeks, like the king, to avoid observation when the nest is being- 

 opened. In such cases there is only one way of searching method- 

 icallv for her. Remove the nest with as little disturbance as possible 

 to a convenient place free from the attacks of ants; a large tal)le with 

 its feet standing in water is the best place. Break the nest into frag- 

 ments, remove each fragment one by one, examine it carefully, and 

 put it aside in a safe place, so that the search may, if necessary, be 

 gone through a second time. If the nest has been broken into frag- 

 ments before it has been much disturbed, the king will be found in the 

 same fragment as the queen. If the nest is broken into fragments 

 graduall}', the king, if found at all, will generally be found in the 

 fragment last examined. The longest time I spent searching through 

 one nest was three days. I found a king; the ([ueen escaped me, but I 

 feel confident that was due to my want of care, and she was really there. 



I have found colonies which I believed to be, through some accident, 

 queenless, and there are, no doubt, species in which a single colony owns 

 several nests; but the rule is that every nest has a true royal pair. 1 

 have found as manv as si.K true royal pairs; the}' were, as is always 

 the case, in the same royal cell; their tarsi were injured, presumably 

 as the result of quarrel mg. 



When there is a true queen, she is, so far as my observations go, 

 always accompanied by a true king. When there is more than one 

 true queen, the number of true kings is generally equal to them; but 

 often it is less, and occasionally it is greater. The king has no copu- 

 latory organs. From Professor Grassi's observations, it is probable that 

 mCaloterines copulation nevertheless does take place. In Termes ma- 

 layanus I have reason to thmk that the king fertilizes the eggs after 

 they are laid; indeed, copulation in the case of kings and fully grown 

 queens of most species of the genus T<:rniefi is apparentl}' impossible. 



1 raised neoteinic forms artificially in two species of Caloteniies. In 

 species of the fungus-growers neoteinic forms h?lve never been found. 

 In ti\-e cases 1 removed the royal pairs from the nests of T. malriyarni.'i. 



