108 . SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



the necessary raw material, it now built a similar edifice of 

 earth." 



On December 18 I opened a mound of T. obscuriceps in the 

 Experiment Station grounds (where Escherich found his E. 

 escherichi). Near the smiace of the earth I found a tunnel, 

 from which emerged a large number of soldiers of this species. 

 Following up the tunnel, workers and a few winged individuals 

 could be found. The tunnel led to a small by-nest inhabited 

 by workers and soldiers. On the opposite side of the mound 

 I found another nest, which was much larger in size than the 

 first, i.e., of the size of a man's fist. This nest contained 

 workers, soldiers, and larvae of different stages ; but neither 

 nj^mphs nor queen could be found. A third nest, of about 

 the same size as the first, i.e., of the size of a hen's egg, was 

 close by, and, finally, I found a fourth small by-nest at some 

 distance from the others. All of these nests were built of 

 earthy material and contained cells of the usual Eutermes 

 pattern. Strangely enough, one of the upper cavities 

 of the mound contained, as in Escherich's case, a strange 

 derehct structure, but this one was made of earth, and 

 differed considerably in pattern from Eutermes buildings, 

 suggesting rather, in structure, the characteristic work of 

 Coptotermes. 



It might be of interest to dwell a little longer on this strange 

 obscuriceps nest, as it contained a considerable number of 

 different inhabitants, and others may have been overlooked. 

 This mound was situated at the foot of a coconut palm, side 

 by side with a mound of T. redemanni. The latter was opened 

 on the previous day and the king and queen were taken. 

 The close vicinity of the two nests had caused a certain fusion 

 of both, as some of the cavities of the obscuriceps momid were 

 occupied by redemanni, which had built their combs there. 

 Here and there, near the surface, small cavities were occupied 

 by Anoplotermes cyclops, and deeper in the mound five queens 

 and one king of this species were found. Hamitermes quadri- 

 ceps also occurred here and there in small cells. Of other 

 insects I can mention several colonies of species of Campotwtus 

 and Cremastogaster, an immature Grylhd, larvae of Orthogonius 

 aeulangulus and of several other Coleoptera. Of JPedipalpi, a 



