m> BIOLOGY OF NOETH AUSTRALIAN TBEMITES, 



some other Eutermes, e.g., E. palmerstoni, n.sp. Although thick and compact, 

 the walls may be easily broken down with a light pick, and are often pierced 

 by small animals ( f Bandicoots) presumably in search of food. A small bird 

 {Pardalotus sp.) also occasionally tunnels into these termitaria for nesting pur- 

 poses. Within the walls there is a maze of irregular passages and tunnels, some 

 of which are generally tightly packed with short lengihs of dried grass, while 

 others are occupied by members of the community (PI. xxiii., fig. 2). Nearer 

 the middle the passages are more numerous and the dividing walls less sub- 

 stantial. The "nursery" is generally large and occupies the whole of the lower- 

 middle portion of the nest (PL xxiii., fig. 1). In it the chambers are more or 

 less horizontal and separated from each other by very thin layers of fragile, 

 brown matter almost entirely vegetable in origin. There is no well-defined 

 queen-cell, the mother termite occupying one of the undifferentiated chambers 

 composing the "nursery" or, very often, one of the large cells near those in 

 which grass is stored (PI. xxiii., fig. 1). The roofs of the "nursery" cells are 

 generally dotted over with small white spots of fungus growth, which may 

 possibly be used as food. Dejecta are stored in the cells outside the lower part 

 of, and below, the "nursery." Additions to the nest appear to be made generally 

 during the dry season and, when undertaken, are generally extensive. An in- 

 crease of about 50% in the size of a nest has been observed to take place within 

 a week in one instance, but such rapid building is unusual. 



The earthy material used in building is gathered very largely on, or near, 

 the surface, since there are no extensive excavations below it and no trace in the 

 walls or elsewhere of the yellow-coloured subsoil, which underlies the locality in 

 which the nests have been investigated. The main passages from the nest all 

 trend towards the lower part of the walls, under which they pass at a depth of 

 3 to 4 inches and then divide into numerous radiating passages commrmicating 

 with the surface, where they are closed excepting at "harvesting" time. 



The parents of a new colony live for some time in underground passages, 

 in which they rear a fairly large brood of workers and soldiers only; then, when 

 the community is strong enough, a termitarium is built, and, later (probably 2 

 years) the first brood of nymphs is reared. I have seen still soft and moist ter- 

 mitaria of about 15 inches in height where none existed a few weeks earlier 

 and, on breaking these mounds open, found them to contain a large number of 

 workers and soldiers only, the king and queen being located in chambers ex- 

 cavated in the soil below. There is no "nursery" in these young termitaria, in 

 fact, this part of the structure is well-defined only in the older ones. 



The community invariably consists of an immense number of soldiers and 

 workers, the former approximating the latter in numbers. These castes are as- 

 sociated with vast numbers of young forms in all stages of development, the 

 larger of which may be differentiated as being destined to become workers, sol- 

 diers or images. A king and queen are nearly always found in some part of the 

 nest, but the former is easily overlooked unless a careful search is made. The 

 queen is not imprisoned within a cell, as is often the case with other species, but 

 wanders through, and oviposits in, any of the larger passages. Of five queens 

 captured on 7th July, only two were located in the "nursery," the others being 

 in passages near the top of the nest and within a few inches of the walls. In 

 each case masses of fresh eggs were found in close proximity, and others not 

 far distant. The eggs hatch in the chambers or passages in which they are 

 laid, but the resulting larvae appear to be carried, or migrate, to the "nursery." 

 Ecdysis has been observed only in the larger worker larvae and nymphs under- 



