iSgo.] NEW-YORK AnCROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 105 



Finding these little pockets occupied with pairs of Termites, 

 Mr. Beaumont cut out portions of the bark, containing pockets 

 and little colonies, and transferred them to recesses i)reiKired in 

 his ash blocks. The first pair transferred had two larvae and 

 seven eggs. Some of these eggs hatched, one producing the 

 larva of z. tiasuti soldier, and others the larv?e of workers. These 

 continued to thrive for four or five months, but they did not like 

 the light, or their doings investigated, and tunneled under the 

 bark, keeping out of sight. As long as they could be observed, 

 the queen cared for the larvee at first, but as soon as the larvae 

 workers were a few days old they also assisted. One or two 

 moultings occurred, which occupied about one hour of time. 

 This was much shorter than the observed time for transformations 

 of the Calotcrnies. The queens found in these pockets are very 

 small, but little larger than when they swarm and lose their wings. 

 Making sections of the queens in this stage eight to ten nearly 

 mature eggs are found. But little development, however, has 

 taken place in the ovarian tubes beyond the nearly mature eggs. 



This feature has been noticed by others, when making dissec- 

 tions of the young queens after swarming. The true explana- 

 tion of this is yet to be ascertained. Several pairs of Calotenncs 

 were transferred from the Coccoloba tree to the ash blocks. 

 They did not object to the light, and their movements and 

 actions were readily studied. 



One pocket contained a pair and three eggs. Mr. Beaumont 

 had the pleasure of seeing a larva emerge from the egg, and in 

 an hour or two saw it take its first supply of food, while observ- 

 ing it under the microscope. 



The larva, crawling to the posterior of the queen's abdomen, 

 touched it with its antennae, opened its mouth and received a 

 supply of some fluid food. This statement only applies to the 

 Calotermes ; feeding of the larvae of the other genera, has not 

 been reported by Mr. Beaumont. 



The little pellets of partially digested wood are also used as 

 food by the Calotermes, being fed to the imago with worn man- 

 dibles, and to the youngest nymphte as now observed. Mr. 

 Beaumont finds when a queen and larva are placed in one of 

 his ash blocks, the larva flourishes as long as the queen can cut 

 the food from the block. But when her mandibles become so 

 worn that she can not do so the larva dies, and eventually the 

 oueen. 



