1890.] NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 175 



male or female, the latter may exceed in number the other 

 species, and thus make up for the small number of eggs to each 

 queen. 



My observations here on the Isthmus of Panama do not con- 

 firm the fungus theory, applied to these termites, as the origin 

 of the pellets. I think I have seen them voided. I have pre- 

 pared a longitudinal section of a short piece of a seat-rail con- 

 taining a few nymphfe of C. marginij}e?inis. In a few days 

 some of the little pellets were pushed through a little hole at 

 the rate of thirty or forty per minute. These pellets are usually 

 the only outward sign we have of the inward presence of this 

 species. In the above section of seat-rail there are three pock- 

 ets filled with pellets, partly to get them out of the way and 

 to prevent the entrance of intruders. And in another pocket 

 is a pin-hole, made for getting rid of the refuse ; and you 

 would have smiled to see the neatness and despatch of the ope- 

 ration. 



I was invited to Panama to inspect a set of imported furniture 

 ruined by Calotermes marginipe7inis. "When I broke off one 

 of the legs of a chair, the winged imago flew out very lively. 

 The owner said the wood was European hickory. I also saw 

 an ash extension-table affected by the same species, for which 

 so far no remedy has been found. 



June 2d. I opened some mud nests and made close observa- 

 tions of their contents, and secured imago, two queens, and 

 several virgin queens (auxiliary queens), and for the first time 

 found two species of termites occupying different portions of 

 the same nest. I have hunted for this in the hundreds of nests 

 examined of other species, and this mud nest confirms what Dr. 

 Hagen has stated. The only species of strangers I find in the 

 mud nests is tlie smallest termite yet seen here {Termes 

 minimus), and the difference between the two kinds could be 

 easily noted. In the six nests opened, the T. minimus was 

 found in three out of the six. Some of the eggs were found, 

 showing that the queen was not far away. These T. minimus 

 live in septa or cells connected by small galleries, completely 

 shutting out the rightful owners. These septa and galleries are 

 lined or whitewashed by the strangers with their secretions; so, 

 upon splitting open a portion of the nest, wherever the white 

 cells appeared there were the T. minimus, so that there was no 

 intermingling of the two species. The septa not occupied by 

 the strangers were the natural color of the mud — red clay. The 

 white lining of the septa under the microscope shows the work 

 of the T. minimus. Twice when the nest was opened I saw the 

 soldiers of the mud nest besiege the strangers, but no sign of 

 any further hostility was shown. 



