THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



The "white ant" responsible for the 

 mischief was the Milk White Termite 

 Coptotcnncs lacteus, as Mr. VV. \V. 

 Frog-gatt, the Government Entomolo- 

 gist, calls it. This species is very 

 plentifnl around Sydney, where it 

 constructs its nest in logs and stumps. 

 In the South Coast District and north- 

 wards to Southern Queensland it 

 makes a dome-shaped nest, which may 

 measure six feet in height. This 

 structiu'e is formed of clay on the 

 outside, and its Ijase is usually em- 

 bedded about a foot underground. 

 When the outer clay covering is re- 

 moved, the interior of the nest is seen 

 to be composed of a clay-like material 

 which was originally wood, but has 

 been masticated l)v the termites and 

 worked into its present form. 

 Through it run the galleries of the 

 colony. A roimd mass made of sheets 

 of a special material placed one above 

 the other, and riddled with galleries, 

 is found in the centre of the nest. 

 Mr. Froggatt has described it as the 

 "nursery," on account of the numbers 

 of young larvae found in it. 



The Meridional or Magnetic White 

 Ant, Tennes ineridionalis, found in 

 North Queensland and the Northern 

 Territory, has the most interesting 

 nest of all our Australian species. 

 The termitarium resembles a wall in 

 appearance, usually about 8 feet in 

 height, and is so constructed that the 

 ends of the wall point directly north 

 and south, witli tlie broad sides east 

 and west. 



The reason for so constructing the 

 termitarium is that it may dry most 

 rapidly. The sun shines on both 

 sides, and each receives an equal 

 amount of heat. This is necessary, as 

 repairs and additions to the nest are 

 made only during the wet season, 

 when the building material is soft. 



The nests found around Co(tk- 

 town are often surmounted by turret 

 and spire-like projections, which re- 

 mind one of some European cathe- 

 dral. A variation from the Cooktown 

 form occurs near Port Darwin. In 

 this case the nest has the eastern side 

 convex and the western concave ; the 



turrets, too, have given place to a ser- 

 rated ridge. 



One of the accompanying illustra- 

 tions shows the Great Mound Nest 

 of Eutermes pyriformis, which is com- 

 mon at Cape York and may be i8 feet 

 high. The "nigger head" nests, so 

 common in gum trees in the bush, are 

 the work of members of the genus 

 Eiitrniics. They are usually in com- 

 munication W'ith the ground by means 

 of closed-in galleries. Other termites 

 do not appear to make these arboreal 

 habitations. 



A "white ant" community is made 

 up of a number of castes, each of 

 which has its special duties to per- 

 form. The supreme being is the 

 queen, the whole activities of the 

 colony centering around her, since on 

 her falls the duty of the reproduction 

 of its life. She is much larger in size 

 than any of the other termites in the 

 nest owing to an enormous develop- 

 ment of the egg tubes in the abdomen, 

 which becomes distended with eggs. 

 Her great rotundity makes her in- 

 capable of movement, and she de- 

 pends on the workers for nourish- 

 ment. Certain specialised pup^e, 

 known as "supplementary queens," 

 take the place of the queen in the 

 event of her dying or any other such 

 misfortune. The queen, as a rule, be- 

 longs to the caste which includes the 

 winged males and females, but after 

 pairing she settles down to a life of 

 egg laying. The king is sometimes 

 seen in the royal cell, but little seems 

 to be known about him. The winged 

 males and females are the only mem- 

 bers of the termitarium which are 

 usually seen outside the nest. The 

 "white ant" swarms, which are such a 

 nuisance in the summer months, are 

 composed of myriads of these insects, 

 which are forsaking the nest in order 

 to set up house for themselves. A 

 swarm usually makes its appearance 

 about a quarter of an hour before sun- 

 set, after a hot, sultry day. The 

 workers on such an occasion make a 

 breach in the wall of the termitarium 

 and the soldiers allow the winged 

 forms to swarm out. These speedily 



