116 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



after noon. But after about 5 p.m. and towards sunset the 

 termites seemed to gather in the galleries, which I have then 

 found to be crowded with both workers and soldiers. When 

 the galleries were broken up some of the insects wandered 

 about aimlessly, but most of them tried to escape into the 

 openings leading underground.* 



As to the purpose of these galleries, Escherich Suggests that 

 they originate by the rummaging of the termites in search of 

 fungi or their spores — an opinion that is shared by Mr. E. E. 

 Green, and which seems credible enough. Perhaps the 

 galleries are constructed also during the search for decaying 

 wood or stumps of trees, where these species are always found 

 feeding. With regard to the brittleness of the galleries, I find 

 that they are not always constructed so ephemerally as 

 Escherich states, especially when dead branches have come in 

 the way of the termites. Such branches are then usually 

 covered with a strong crust of earthy matter and eaten up 

 from the inside. 



I have not touched the systematic part of my results, in 

 this Paper, except in the case of Eutermes oculatus ; but I hope, 

 on my return from my present trip, to work out my further 

 results. This, naturally, can only be done in a laboratory, 

 with all the necessary apparatus, collections, and literature. 



* When writing the above I had not seen a ptiper of Dr. V. Buttel 

 Reopens (Entomol. Mitteilungen I., I. IV., 1912, N. 4, p. 103), wherein 

 he states that he has found both species — T. obscuriceps and T. 

 redemanni — in the galleries. — Oscar John. 



