TERMITES IN THE CANAL, ZONE AND PANAMA. 21 



inch in width, and several galleries often coalesced to form a wide, 

 flat one, 4 to 5 inches wide. The termites were also working inside 

 of the wood, even in sound wood; in one place a termitarium of a 

 sort was observed in the wood, but no queens were found. 



SUBULITERMES ZETEKI Snyder. 



This is a very interesting, odd appearing, nasutiform termite, but 

 as yet little is known of its habits. The first record of this genus 

 occurring in Central America was the capture of this species, named 

 after J. Zetek, by Zetek and Molino at Summit, Canal Zone, on July 

 29, 1922. Workers and soldiers were found abundant in the trunk 

 and petiole of an oil palm {Elaeis melanococca) . 



No species of Subulitermes occurs in the Dudley collection of 

 Panama termites at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cam- 

 bridge, Mass., nor in the Beaumont collection at the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History in New York City. 



EUTERMES DEBILIS Heer. 



As yet little is known of the habits of Eutermes debilis in Panama, 

 It has been found only on the Pacific slope. E. debilis builds earth- 

 like galleries and earthen nests on the trunks of trees, including 

 coconut palms. It is a wood borer. 



At Ancon Hospital on October 26, 1921, Zetek and Molino found 

 workers and soldiers of this termite in a tall tree. The whole trunk 

 was covered with tortuous, light-brown to gray galleries, one-eighth 

 to three-sixteenths inch wide. These galleries were of earth, firm, 

 and often with algal growth over them. There was no nest, and the 

 termites were few in number. Soldiers were scarce. 



A nest found in the crotch of a mango tree on Taboga Island, 

 Republic of Panama, on March 30, 1922, by Zetek and Molino was of 

 hard clay (PI. X, B) and of about one-fifth cubic foot content. Only 

 one soldier was found; but workers were very abundant, as well as 

 nymphs of the sexual forms with rudimentary wing pads. Two lots 

 of eggs were found in oblong, shallow cells. A large first-form queen, 

 with distended abdomen, was present. This queen is 21 millimeters 

 in length and 4.5 millimeters in width. 



On April 1 another nest of this species was found on Taboga 

 Island in an orange tree, but few termites were present. 



This termite is supposed to construct its nests and shelter tubes of 

 dirt alone. However, fragments of shelter tubes of Eutermes debilis 

 from the trunk of a tree at Ancon, Canal Zone, were examined by 

 the Bureau of Chemistry with the following result : 



Sample A, M. 38191 : This sample was found to contain an appreciable amount 

 of siliceous material and also finely comminuted material which gave the 

 usual microchemical reaction for lignin, but did not show any evidence of 

 cellular structure. 



It was remarked by the microanalyst that " apparently the so- 

 Icalled dirt in this instance may be in part decayed plant materia], 

 las the presence of lignified material would seem to indicate." 



