4 B. GEASSI AND A. SANDIAS. 



filled with rotten wood, I have often got a pair to lay eggs, and 

 once I obtained larvse in various stages of growth. 



Lespes claims often to have found true royal pairs in France. 

 But serious doubt has been thrown on this statement, to which 

 I shall refer in the section on Historical Accounts.^ 



2. In Sicily, Termes multiplies by means of complementary 

 or substitute sexual forms. 



3. If two colonies of Termes, both containing comple- 

 mentary queens, are taken from different trees at some distance 

 away and intermingled, they are found to fraternise without 

 the least difficulty. 



This has been demonstrated for Termites collected respec- 

 tively at places six and eight kilometres apart. 



It is certain that the insects commingled in the last two 

 experiments belonged to absolutely distinct colonies, and it 

 must be inferred that the Termites of different nests fraternise. 

 And therefore, in spite of their mutual recognition, the appli- 

 cation to them of those criteria, which are so effective in 

 deciding whether bees belong to the same hive or not, becomes 

 excessively difficult. One can satisfy oneself that friendship 

 takes place equally whether complemental queens are present 

 in one or in both of the united populations ; and this proves 

 that such queens live peaceably together without signs of 

 jealousy even when derived from separate nests. 



4. Termites readily migrate from tree to tree, and carry 



1 [Ferris, who was a very accurate observer, records ('Ann. Soc. Ent. 

 Fr.' [5], vi, 1876, p. 201) the discovery in the Landes on June 10th of two 

 pairs of Termes lucifugus buried in the ground at the stump of a pine, and 

 each accompanied by a few (four) eggs. Perez (' Comptes Rendus,' cxix, 1894, 

 pp. 804! — 806) also performed the experiment of furnishing winged T. lucifu- 

 gus with an artificial habitat. The couples were put into a jar containing earth 

 and a large block of decayed wood. They buried themselves in the earth, and 

 selected domiciles under it in the cracks of the wood. Pairs established on 

 April 29th were found to be flourishing on July ^th and August 30th, and 

 the abdomen was gradually becoming distended. They had penetrated more 

 deeply into the wood by the latter date, and were found with difficulty. On 

 October 15th six sexual forms were found in the same cavity together with two 

 young worKers and an egg. They avoided the light, and no further growth of 

 the abdomen had taken place.] 



