Termites, or White Ants, in India. 383 



its appearance. The air is suddenly filled with, bats of all 

 sizes ; backwards and forwards they shoot without any inter- 

 mission, and so eager are they in pursuit of their prey that we 

 have frequently caught them in a butterfly net by simply hold- 

 ing it out from the top of the house. As may be imagined, 

 these foes grant but little quarter, until the whole winged 

 cloud of white ants is totally annihilated. Scarcely one has 

 escaped to found a new colony ; and, as night closes over the 

 scene, they seem to be aware that wings are after all of little 

 use. 



Another note regarding them. We have frequently, of an 

 evening, observed what seemed to be water-beetles in our 

 tank and others in the neighbourhood. They kept spinning 

 round and round like a Catherine-wheel, disturbing the water 

 within a radius of fourteen inches. Occasionally one was taken 

 down by a fish, or the species of skipping-frog, so ably de- 

 scribed by Dr. Adams in his "Naturalist in India," page 16, 

 would suddenly rush out from the bank, seize one, and devour 

 it. Determined to secure one of these beetles, one evening, 

 for our English correspondents, and being, moreover, rather 

 puzzled as to why we only saw them spinning round of an 

 evening, we made a capture, and, to our no small disgust, dis- 

 covered that they were only winged white ants which had 

 fallen into the water. The reason they are only seen of an 

 evening is of course explained by the fact that white ants only 

 come out in the winged state during that time. 



