THE NATURALIST IN AUSTRALIA. 



species, it travels in processional order above ground and in broad daylight. Con- 

 cerning the nest or termitaria-constructing species, the form he distinguished by 

 the title of Termes bellicosus is undoubtedly the most remarkable. This Termite 

 constructs clay hillocks ten or twelve feet high of an obtusely conical contour, supple- 

 mented by a variable number of smaller conical pinnacles or turrets which spring 

 from around the base, and from the general surface-area of the central cone. 

 According to Mr. Smeathman, these termitaries make their first appearance above 

 ground in the form of one or two, or more, sugar-loaf-shaped turrets of a foot or 

 so in height, which through constant increase in size and numbers, become finally 

 amalgamated. 



In vertical section the nest mound of Termes bellicosus is depicted as consisting 

 of an outer shell averaging a foot in thickness, and traversed throughout its height 

 by a wide spirally ascending tunnel. The Royal Chamber containing the abnormally 

 inflated queen, which in this species, see p. 103, fig. 8, measures as much as three or 

 four inches long, by one inch thick, and also the king, is situated in the immediate 

 centre of the hillock, at the same level as the surface of the ground. Around this 

 royal cell are clustered the innumerable waiting chambers, or so-called Royal Apart- 

 ments occupied by the labourers and soldiers which wait upon and guard the 

 king and queen. These form an intricate labyrinth which extends for a foot or 

 more in diameter from the Royal Chamber on every side. Here the nurseries and 

 magazines of provisions begin, which, intercommunicating by other empty chambers and 

 galleries, are continued on all sides to the outer shell. 



It is remarked by Smeathman that the dimensions and composition of the 

 nurseries of this species, Termes bellicosus, differ materially from those of the other 

 chambers, being not only much smaller, but composed of woody material in place of 

 clay. In addition to their eggs or infant brood, they were always found to be slightly 

 overgrown with minute fungoid growths, upon which, according to collateral observations 

 made by M. Konig of an East Indian species, it would appear the infant Termites are 

 fed. The contents of the magazine chambers proper were found to consist of what, at 

 first sight, appeared to be raspings of the wood and plaTits which the Termites 

 customarily destroy, but on nearer investigation, proved to be composed of various 

 descriptions of gums or inspissated juices. 



The complex mass of nurseries and provision magazines in the nest-mound of 

 Termes bellicosus is described as extending vertically for some two-thirds or three- 

 quarters of the entire interior space, leaving a more or less considerable hollow area 



