TERMITES FROM BRITISH INDIA. 791 



the portions of the nests just mentioned do not show an arrange- 

 ment in layei's analogoiis to what we observe in Eutermes-ne.^t^ . 

 This being the case, it would be highly remarkable if a Microcero- 

 termes-nest Avas realty discovered in which an arrangement in 

 layers or zones similar to that of Eutermes-nests could be shown 

 to exist ; for the practice of building such a type of nest would 

 doiibtlessly be the result of parallel lines of development. 



Now Assmuth has sent me two portions of the second nest 

 mentioned above (see collector's report) ; one of the fragments — the 

 more interesting of the two — a piece 7*5 cm, thick, is taken from 

 the oiiter part of the nest, the other is the innermost portion of it 

 with the royal cell. To my surprise I recognise in the first frag- 

 ment a distinct stratification, viz. 1. A coating zone (zone I; cp. 

 Holmgren, Studien ueber suedamerikanische Termiten, 1906), 

 consisting of very minute pellets of earthy material, the exterior 

 of Avhich is not smoothed. The zone is irregularly rough and 

 warty, forming the outside wall of the external layer of cells or 

 chambers. 2. An outer zone (zone II and III). This layer 

 contrasts with the interior of the nest by its very colour, its walls 

 being lined with .a sort of brownish-black coating of excrements, 

 whereas the walls of ^he interior are lined yellowish-brown. More- 

 over, the chambers of this zone are, on the whole, smaller than 

 those of the interior. They also seem to extend in a more tangen- 

 tial direction, at least in the lower portions of the zone in question. 

 The latter is not built regularly, nor is the form of its cells well 

 definable in all parts ; but the colour of its interior lining enables 

 us to fix its limits without any difficulty. The thickness of the 

 layer is about 3 cm. 3. A nursery zone (zone TV.) Its walls 

 are lined with a j^ellowish-brown coating. The chambers, though 

 very irregular, show a more or less marked horizontal position. 

 Round the royal cell their arrangement appears to be some- 

 what concentric, but without any regularity. The queen is 

 found in this laj^-er in a big (3-4 cm. broad) rather flat-roofed 

 chamber Avith perforated walls. A central zone fZentralkern) 

 would, therefore, seem to be absent. 



The general build of the nest appears from the accompanying 

 photograph (No, 8). 



