22 BULLETIN 1232, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



ANOPLOTERMES GRACILIS Snyder. 



Very little is known of the habits of Anoplotermes gracilis. Ap- 

 parently it does not construct a regular mound nest. 



On February 18, 1922. Zetek collected workers and nymphs of the 

 first form at Alhajuela, Republic of Panama, on the upper Chagres 

 River basin. They were in claylike dirt under a stone at the base of 

 a mango tree. There was no well-defined termitarium ; the termites 

 lived in burrows made in the clay. The long, white, slender nymphs 

 were agile and moved about with ease. The termites did not pene- 

 trate the wood of the tree, so far as could be observed; their guts 

 were filled with dirt. 



TERMITE-LIKE SHELTER TUBES OF AN ANT. 



In connection with the earthlike shelter tubes constructed by 

 various species of termites, it is interesting to note that in Panama 

 an ant forms termite-like carton shelter galleries along tree trunks 

 (PI. X, D) . Specimens of this ant and the gallery substance were 

 collected by Zetek and Molino on November 16, 1921, at Valdez's 

 Place, Las Sabanas, near Panama City, Republic of Panama. This 

 ant has been determined by Dr. W. M. Wheeler, of Bussey Institute, 

 Harvard University, as Azteca foreli Emery. 



The tree with these ant galleries on it was an old Ficus sp. about 

 8 feet in diameter, the top of it cut off squarely. The inside of the 

 tree was well rotted. Along the outside (the bark was sound) ran 

 many galleries, three-eighths to three-fourths inch in diameter, which 

 at first sight looked like those of termites. They were, however, 

 rough in appearance and very irregular in outline and were made of 

 chewed-up pieces of wood. The inner surface is smoother, the outer 

 rough. The old ones were colored by age, so that they resembled the 

 color of the bark and even had algae growing over them. The new 

 galleries were distinctly of fresh-wood color. The ants were found 

 wherever the tunnels were broken into, but there were a few places 

 where the ants were unusually abundant. There were no signs of 

 termites in the tree at the time. 



Doctor Wheeler wrote : 



Before the ants arrived I was certain from his (Zetek's) description of the 

 galleries that the specimens would prove to be Cremastogaster stolli Forel, but 

 when they arrived I found that they were instead Azteca foreli Emery. I still 

 believe that the galleries were probably constructed by the Cremastogaster, 

 because I am quite familiar with that insect and its work, but that the Azteca 

 had taken possession of them. 



Doctor Wheeler further states that Forel (4, V- HI) was a l so °f 

 the opinion that these carton galleries on trees and rocks are really 

 made by Cremastogaster stolli, but appropriated by Azteca foreli. 



CONTROL. 



Methods for the prevention of attack by termites have been given 

 in some detail in a previous paper (#, p. 300-301). To generalize 

 briefly : 



In the construction of buildings or other structures, steel and 

 stone or concrete should, where possible, supplant wood. All wood 

 should be treated with chemical wood preservatives before being 



