366 GERALD F. HILL. 



Queen. — Antennae generall}' complete, i.e., 18-jointed ; wing-stumps often muti- 

 lated ; two or three legs generally amputated, claws of remaining legs short and 

 blunt, apices of second and third tarsi heavily chitinised. Eight dorsal and six ventral 

 abdominal plates distinct ; pleurae and integument cream-coloured. Abdomen 

 16 long by 6 wide. Other characters as in imago. 



King. — Uniformly dark above ; abdomen much contracted and plates over 

 lapping ; pleurae olDscured by dorsal and ventral plates. Other characters as in 

 queen and imago. One specimen examined ; apparently very old ; associated with 

 two old neoteinic queens. 



Neoteinic Queen. — Head and clypeus yellow-ochre, prothorax a little lighter ; 

 tergites and sternites amber-yellow, the latter with wearing surfaces dark and 

 heavily chitinised, pleurae and spaces between plates cream-coloured. Head wide ; 

 eyes small, hardly projecting, only inner facets pigmented ; ocelli as in imago ; 

 fontanelle a large oval cavity about as large as and shaped like eye (in nymphs of the 

 first form it is much smaller and proportionately more elongate, as in adult) ; antennae 

 17-jointed, apparently never mutilated, third and fourth joints fused, short ; pro- 

 thorax shaped as in imago ; wing-buds long, slender, subequal, three-fifths length 

 of the entire sclerite. Abdomen with cuticle horizontally striate. 



Measurements; Head, at and including eyes, 1-70 wide; prothorax, 0-94 

 long, 1 -60 wide. 



Described from two old individuals found in association with the true king des- 

 cribed on a preceding page. Several other similar specimens seen. These forms are 

 derived from nymphs of the second form, i.e., in the stage preceding the acquisition 

 of the long wing-buds characterising nymphs of the first form, i.e., those which are 

 destined to develop into winged imagines. In second form nymphs, and neoteinic 

 queens developed from them, the mesonotum and metanotum, including wing-buds, 

 measure 2-35 in length; in nymphs of the first form, i.e., potential winged 

 imagines and true kings and queens, the length is 4-25. The antenna in each is 

 17-jointed. 



Fig. 4. Drepanotermes silvestrii, sp. n., 

 head of soldier. 



Soldier. — Head orange-rufous to Sandford's brown ; mandibles mahogany-red ; 

 labrum yellowish, apex hyaline ; antennae nearly as dark as head ; junction of 

 segments hyaline ; pro-, meso- and metathorax russet to argus brown ; legs and 

 abdominal tergites light clay-colour. 



