104 Indian Museum Notes. Vol. IV. 



surrounding earth. The white abdominal rings were broader, and 

 the black disks were entirely separated one from another. 



On October 15th I found in one of my jars six sexual Termites 

 . assembled in the same cavity, which a slight splitting of the wood 

 had revealed. With them were two young workers, which had very 

 recently emerged, since they were of very small size, especially one 

 of them, whose transparent body showed no ingested matter in the 

 alimentary canal. At one point of the wall was attached a large egg- 

 As for the adults, they were still in perfect condition, but were less 

 active than formerly, and obstinately shunned the light. The females, 

 however, appeared scarcely more distended than in the month of 

 August, and their abdomens were still far from the monstrous pro- 

 portions observed in the case of the normal queens of the old nests. 

 This difference is easily explained by the as yet moderate develop- 

 ment of the ovaries, which, at the outset of their functional activity, 

 are capable of furnishing only a very limited number of eggs. 



Be this as it may, it is already proved by this experiment that 

 the winged Termites issuing from the swarms are perfectly capable 

 of living without the assistance of workers of their own species, and 

 that their pairs develop into king and queen, the founders of a new 

 colony. Thus is to be explained the fact that the winged individuals 

 are always sexually immature, and have never been seen in coil4 : 

 they do not arrive at sexual maturity until after a somewhat lengthy 

 interval, the duration of which my observations enable me to fix at 

 five or six months. 



G. I. C, P. 0.~No. 96 R, & A.— 1.4-97 -W. B. G. 



