39 



Note on Eutermes Rippertii. 



The nests of the white-ants tound at the Isle of Pines in 1864, as 

 I recollect them, were about the size of a man's head, and dome- 

 shaped. According to notes taken at the time, the first of them was 

 found resting on the ground around the base of a small tree; and I 

 believe that all the others were similarly situated, and that the trees 

 were not more than an inch in diameter. The outside crust of the 

 nest was made of a loosely compacted earth, while within it, at the 

 depth of about an inch or two, was a much firmer material, a closely 

 cemented hardened earth, two or three inches thick, which required 

 a hatchet to break; within, it was softer again. The nest extended 

 an inch or two below the level of the gravelly soil, and most of the 

 milk-white larva3 were found in this part of the nest. The queen 

 was found near the middle of the nest, beneath its very hardest part, 

 upon the easterly side; and on the same side the black workers were 

 much 'more abundant than elsewhere. Several nests were opened 

 and a single queen taken from each (at least I find no notice of a 

 second queen) ; the first nest that was despoiled was visited the next 

 day (about eighteen hours after destruction), and the open parts were 

 found entirely covered with fresh earth, and crowds of workers were 

 running about with larvae in their mouths. Several day's search 

 failed to discover a deserted nest. 



