THE NATURALIST IN AUSTRALIA. 



writer's mind, with reference to the circumstance that, by being constructed with 

 this orientation, their larger surfaces present the least possible direct exposure 

 to the meridianal rays of the tropical sun, and in consequence absorb and retain 

 interiorly a minimum amount of solar heat. 



The author is beholden to Mr. Paul Folsche for the photographs of yet 

 another form of White Ant termitarium, reproduced in this volume. It occurs 

 also in the neighbourhood of Port Darwin, and probably represents the most 

 colossal example of these remarkable insect habitations that is to be found in the 

 Australian Continent. The architectural plan of this variety may be most appropriately 

 designated the " Columnar." The altitude of the highest of these termitaria observed, 

 Plate XXII., fig. A, is no less than eighteen feet, as may be verified by the figures 

 of the man, horses, and vehicle standing beside it. In common with the pyramidal 

 type of termitarium belonging to the Cape York Peninsula district of Northern 

 Queensland, previously described, this columnar form is associated with strong ridges 

 or buttresses, which, extending throughout the length of the lofty column, must add 

 materially to its rigidity and strength. It will be of interest to ascertain whether 

 any remarkably large species of White Ant is the fabricator of these tower-like 

 structures. Although unable to produce any direct evidence on this subject in the 

 present volume, the writer has been informed by Mr. Froggatt that its constructors 

 are most probably referable to the genus Eutei*mes. 



In addition to the remarkable descriptions of White Ant habitations now 

 enumerated, there are a number of Australian Termites awaiting identification and 

 classification that either construct smaller and architecturally insignificant termitaria 

 or which, erecting no mound whatever, are purely miners, living in decaying wood 

 or subterranean chambers and galleries, whence they extend their depredations to 

 remote distances. Among the former category, irregular mound-shaped termitaria 

 some two or three feet high, probably constructed by distinct species, may be met 

 with at a considerable distance south of the tropic of Capricorn, on both the Queensland 

 and Western Australian sides of the Island-Continent. In the former instance they 

 may be referred to as being abundant in the neighbourhood of Brisbane, and in 

 Western Australia as extending as far south as Pinjarrah and Bunbury, in about 

 latitude 33. It frequently happens that birds of various species excavate holes 

 and build their nests within these smaller termitaria. A White-breasted Kingfisher, 

 probably Halcyon samtus, thus constructs its nest in those in the southern districts 

 of Western Australia. In similar irregular heap-like termitaria in the neighbourhood 



