ME. G. D. HAVILAND ON TERMITES. 365 



of T. malayaniis, and after three or four months again examined 

 the nests. In three out of the five cases substitution pairs 

 exactly resembling the original ones, with well-formed wing- 

 stumps, were present ; in the other two cases I could not find a 

 royal cell, and believe that the loss had not been repaired. 



Natural neoteinic forms are very abundantly found in some 

 species, especially in those whose soldiers have a saddle-shaped 

 pronotum and are mandibulated. In forms with nasute 

 soldiers I found neoteinic queens in only two species, T. horne- 

 ensis and T. matangensis. Neoteinic queens are generally raised 

 in considerable numbers, and become fewer in number as they 

 grow older. They are always found in the same part of the 

 nest, although, unless few in number, they cannot all occupy the 

 same cell. 



By neoteinic individuals I mean fertile individuals the condition 

 of whose thorax makes it clear that they have never been capable 

 of flight. Though the true queens are always accompanied by 

 kings, the neoteinic queens are often consortless. They may be 

 accompanied by one or more true kings, or by one or more neo- 

 teinic kings ; but the kings are almost invariably less numerous 

 than the queens, and are in many cases wholly absent. This 

 last conclusion indeed rests on negative evidence only, and in the 

 case in which I am most positive {T. matangensis^ nos. 358 

 & 359) neither eggs nor young larvae were present in the nests, 

 though winged males and females were abundant. 



The function of the soldiers I believe to be defence, and 

 defence only. Some able observers have arrived at a different 

 conclusion ; but on what grounds I am not clear. There is a 

 vast difference in functions of offence and functions of defence : 

 the most successful defence is to prevent attack ; defence has 

 half failed when attacks must be repulsed. The great enemies 

 of termites are ants; and the function of the soldiers seems to 

 me to be to defend any openings in the nests by putting their 

 heads in the way whilst the workers build fortifications. Those 

 soldiers which have a saddle-shaped pronotum and well-developed 

 mandibles are very sluggish, and seem quite useless when a nest 

 is opened. It is the nests to which these belong that birds are 

 most fond of; but while broken nests may be used to bait bird- 

 traps, unbroken nests seem sufficiently strong to resist the birds. 



Those soldiers which have a saddle-shaped pronotum and rudi- 

 mentary mandibles secrete a clear viscid fluid from a sac which 



