284 B. GRASSI AND A. SANDIAS. 
such as that of carrying the young and eggs on their 
mandibles. These organs are useless for gnawing wood, and 
their possessors therefore remain idle for hours together, 
while the rest of the colony is in full activity. Except for 
these tasks of defence from great dangers and wood-gnawing 
and consequently excavation of galleries, it is, so to speak, an 
absolute rule that all labour necessary for the community can 
be undertaken by any of its members. 
Newly hatched larve can be seen carrying a fragment of 
wood heavier than themselves. All forms except the soldiers 
excavate galleries, provided that their mandibles are sufficiently 
strong, which naturally is not the case just after birth or after 
a moult. Both king and queen, whether true or substitute, 
gnaw up wood and transport excreta, eggs, or wood-meal. 
Oviposition appears to be a very laborious process; in one 
case the egg was not extruded until an hour, and the succeeding 
egg until half an hour after appearance at the vulva. Once I 
saw a soldier assist the queen by raising and gently stroking 
her abdomen, but as a rule she lays without assistance. 
Hatching is effected without need of any assistance from 
inmates of the colony. The chorion is tolerably thick, and 
the eggs can be kept in a watch-glass without drying up, and the 
process of hatching observed. Moulting also is accomplished 
as arule without assistance. 
If the eggs and young are exposed by opening a nest, it is 
striking to see how the other inhabitants disperse without 
paying them the least attention, in contrast to the behaviour 
of ants; and yet one must recognise that the colony is as 
deeply interested in their welfare as ants are in that of their 
own offspring, and that it scatters simply because it is panic- 
stricken. ‘This may be proved by shaking a small nest made 
of loose pieces of wood in a glass tube or jar. For a moment 
all the inmates are thrown into disorder by terror, but they 
quickly recover themselves, become persuaded that it was 
merely an earthquake, so to speak, and devote themselves to 
the restoration of order by carrying the eggs back to their 
place at the bottom of the jar, and removing the young on the 
