324 



ANNUAL REPOBT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1W1. 



Grosso, and the interior of Ceara, Maranhao, and Piauhy. Mr. Cran- 

 dall tells me that he finds them most common on the Diamantina 

 Plateau. 



STRUCTURES ABOVE GROUND. 



General characteristics. — The nests of the white ants, or cupim, 

 have no visible external openings. When a mound is new or is 



Cl $aZ*Ju- 



Fig. 5. — Above-ground structure of white ants. 



[Seven kilometers west of Queluz, between Piquiry and S. Gonzales, State of Minas Geraes. From a 

 photograph by the author, Aug. 4, 1907.] 



being added to, the outside of the new portion is so soft that it can 

 be readily broken off Math a stick; but with time the outside usually 

 becomes as hard as a sun-dried brick. This hard outside covers the 

 entire mound, and is usually about 6 inches thick, but in the very 



