102 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



NOTES ON SOME TERMITES FROM CEYLON. 



By OscAK John, 

 St. Petersburg, Russia. 



DURING the months of November and December of last 

 year (1912) I collected termites in Ceylon, chiefly at 

 Peradeniya, and had occasion to make some observations on 

 the habits of certain species. 



Much work upon the termite fauna of Ceylon has been 

 accomplished, but more still remains to be done. I hope, 

 therefore, that the publication of my notes, though incomplete 

 and fragmentary, may be of some use to future workers. 



Before proceeding, I beg to express my warmest thanks to 

 Mr. E. E. Green, whose kind help and directions, based on a 

 vast knowledge of the Ceylon fauna, were quite invaluable 

 to me. 



Termes horn I, Wasm. 



When returning, on December 12, from a stroll to the lake 

 of Kurunegala — it had just begun to grow dark — my attention 

 was attracted by a large number of bats flying along a short 

 thoroughfare. The cause of this gathering of bats became 

 evident when I saw a cloud of large-winged termites rising 

 from under a hedge bordering the road. Unfortunately it was 

 already too dark to determine the exact point of exit of the 

 termites ; but all the grass over a rather large space of ground 

 seemed to be alive with a vast number of them, crawling up 

 from some openings in the earth and flapping their wings to 

 start for flight. This produced a distinctly audible, I may 

 even say a rather loudj noise. Trying to find out the places 

 from which the termites emerged, I struck some matches, 

 but by their feeble light, which moreover was almost imme- 

 diately extinguished by the wind, all I could see was that in 

 two places, about a yard or so apart, large crowds of workers 



