TERMITES OR WHITE ANTS. 075 



ularly, then they get into time, and the others take it up. Every 



soldier in the exposed portion of the nest stands up and hammers with 

 his head; the blow is given thrice in very quick succession, and then 

 there is an interval of two seconds. The noise they produce reminds 

 me of wavelets lapping on a shore. This trick of hammering with 

 the head is seen in only a few species; it is clearly a modification of 

 the shaking movement so often seen in workers. 



I have not found a species without soldiers, though Dr. Fritz Midler 

 found some in America. I have rarely found a nest without soldiers, 

 though in 7. Idbatus I have done so. * * * 



To the workers I have not paid much attention. The amount of 

 coloring and chitinization is correlated with the period during which 

 they are exposed to light. A broad head, slender legs, and arched 

 abdomen go with activity and the habit of foraging for food. A nar- 

 row head, short stout legs, and fusiform abdomen go with a sluggish 

 habit. The workers not only collect the food and build the nest, but 

 also nurse the young, and may be seen carrying the eggs and young 

 larva? to places of greater safety. In some species they certainly 

 take care of the queens. * * * 



The structure and position of termites' nests are veiy various. 

 They agree in having the outer part closed so as to exclude their great 

 enemies, the ants; the entrances are generally few and well protected. 

 There are, however, some exceptions to this rule, of which the most 

 remarkable is the nest of T. latericlus, which has two or three vertical 

 shafts, an inch or two in diameter and about three feet deep, opening 

 on the surface of the ground. T. hospital/* also has one or more 

 large openings at the 'summit of the nest. Several species of the 

 group to which T. lacessitun belongs, and which build round nests on 

 the branches of shrubs, ma}^ also have several exposed openings into 

 the nests. 



The different groups of the genus Tetanies build nests of different 

 characters; the most remarkable that I have seen are those of the 

 fungus growers, so well described by Smeathman in the case of T. 

 heUicosus. The nests of the American fungus growers seem unfortu- 

 nately never to have been described. It was noticed by Smeathman 

 that in some cases the nests of nearly allied species were more easily 

 distinguished than the insects which built them. This is especially 

 true of the species allied to T. nemorosvs, which builds turret nests 

 described by Smeathman. On the other hand, the appearance and 

 shape of the nests are much modified by conditions; thus the mound 

 builders can live without a mound in cultivated ground, where mounds 

 are not permitted. 



All the species whose soldiers have a distinctly saddle-shaped 

 pronotum seem to use proctodeal discharges in the building of their 

 nests. The fungus growers, on the other hand, do not do so, but 



