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the base. Turner found the queen's cell about the centre of the nest, 

 nearer the base and of the usual regular form, measuring about 2i inches 

 in diameter. The dark castaneous winged forms were noticed flying 

 about at Mackay, Queensland, where the nests were plentiful in the scrub 

 towards the end of October ; and nests examined at that time were full of 

 winged termites ready to emerge. 



I afterwards found nests of this species along the boundary fence 

 between Queensland and New South Wales, at the Tweed Heads, in October, 

 when they also contained winged termites. This brings the ranges of this 

 species a long Avay south. 



The winged termites are under i an inch in length, slender and nearly 

 black. The queen has the abdominal plates light brown, and her abdomen 

 measures up to an inch in length. 



The soldier is pale ochreous, with ferruginous jaws, black at the tips, 

 and measures under ^ of an inch in length. The head is large, longer 

 than broad, with the sides straight, curving round in front from the base 

 of the antennae to the jaws, which spring out from the middle of the head 

 and are slender and untoothed. The labrum, broad and covering the base 

 of the jaws, is rounded on the sides, and spade-shaped at the extremity ; 

 antennae composed of thirteen short slender joints, and the prothorax 

 small. 



The workers have the head brownish yellow, with dark spots on the sides 

 of the forehead, somewhat longer than broad, with well-defined sutures in 

 front; the abdomen large, of an elongate oval shape. 



The Meridonial White Ant (Termes meridionalis, Froggatt). 



I have not been able to identify the perfect winged form of this remark- 

 able species, but the form of the soldier is very distinct and characteristic. 

 It has the head almost spherical, slightly longer than broad, rounded 

 behind, and sloping in to the base of the jaws, which are falcate, curving 

 round at the tips, the inner edge smooth from the tip to about a third of 

 the way down, when they are sharply cut out and narrow to the base of 

 the labrum, which is short and rounded. The antennae, composed of fifteen 

 joints, are slender. The head is bright yellow, with dark ferruginous jaws, 

 and the body very white, the whole insect under ^ of an inch in length. The 

 worker is broad and stout in proportion to the length, and has a very 

 noticeable white angular patch in the centre of the forehead. 



This is the termite that is remarkable for constructing the "meridional"' 

 or " magnetic " nests found in the vicinity of the Bloomfield River, North 

 Queensland, and Palmerston, Port Darwin. Mr. N. Holtze, who collected 

 the soldiers and workers from these nests in the Northern Territory, near 

 Palmerston, and photographed the nests for me, says, "These nests 

 average from 10 to 12 feet in length, built in the form of a wall, convex 



