Termites in captivity in England. 593 



present year the number of individuals in the tube was 

 reduced to about twenty ; for some time eggs in very 

 small number were to be seen, I doubt whether more 

 than four or five were produced ; and they did not 

 hatch. The number of individuals of the association 

 continued to diminish throughout the summer, and as the 

 autumn set in they languished more and more so that on 

 the 17th October only a single individual was to be seen, 

 and this was evidently dying. On that date I opened the 

 tube and took out the fragment of wood, and splitting it 

 up I discovered, concealed in a cavity, another individual, 

 a neoteinic one, that doubtless had produced the eggs. 

 As this cavity had been the centre of activity during the 

 egg-laying period of the colony, I was not surprised at 

 finding this queen in it. Although left quite alone, this 

 specimen seemed in good health (though one of her feet 

 had been amputated at some time). I removed her and 

 placed her in the small glass tube in which I exhibit her 

 this evening. The night of the 19-20th was cold, and 

 on the morning of the 20th the queen was torpid, but 

 revived on the tube being placed in a pocket of my 

 waistcoat. The chief point of importance is that though 

 this colony had abundant opportunities of using adult 

 individuals for the jjurposes of reproduction they did 

 not do so, but established a neoteinic queen. I have 

 no reason to suppose that there was a male present, 

 and this may have been the reason that none of the 

 eggs hatched. 



Very little trouble has been taken with this colony ; 

 indeed, it has often not been looked at for several weeks, 

 and, as the result of this experiment, I feel sure that 

 observations on living Termites may be carried on in this 

 country with very little trouble. If an artificial termitainum 

 such as that recently designed for ants by Mr. Ch. Janet, 

 and described in the Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1893, p. 467, 

 were used, and care taken that the temperature never fell 

 below 60 or 65 degrees Fahr., I believe very little 

 difficulty would be experienced in keeping the creatures 

 in good health and in making valuable observations. 

 Calotennes do7nesticus seems specially suitable for the 

 purpose ; it is a very abundant and destructive insect at 

 Singapore, but there is not the slightest danger of its 

 doing any damage in this country. Indeed, I may 

 remark, that all the evidence goes to show that Termites 



