THE SOLDIERLESS TERMITES OF AFRICA 



219 



with scaly surface and one or two small spines; membranous wall of valve between and beyond 

 cushions with sparse minute spicules. 



Measurements (five specimens from separate localities) in millimetres. 



Head width (W) . 



Fore tibia width (T w ) . 



Fore tibia length (Ti) . 



Postclypeus length (Pel) 



Left mandible, apical to first marginal (La) 



Left mandible, first to third marginal (L[) 



Left mandible, third marginal to molar (L m ) 



Right mandible, apical to first marginal (R A ) 



Right mandible, first to second marginal (RJ 



Right mandible, second marginal to molar (R 





Range 



Mean ± S.D. 



0-60-0-64 



0621 i 0081 





0-11-0-12 



01 11 4j: 0006 





o-43-o-45 



o-433 ± 001 1 





0-17-0-22 



0186 ± 0020 





0-05-0-06 



0053 ± 0-005 





010 



— 





004 



— 





005-006 



0-054 i 0-003 





007-008 



0-054 ± ooo3 



■0 



004 



— 



A. polyscolus has already been compared with the other members of the genus 

 under their own descriptions. The abdomen of the worker caste is probably de- 

 hiscent, though few specimens show clear signs of this in the preserved material. 



There is a fair amount of variation in the enteric valve armature, the imago head 

 pilosity and fontanelle, and even in the proportions of the mandibular teeth, among 

 the specimens included in this species. It may well be that when more material is 

 found it will be necessary to divide it into an eastern and a western species. How- 

 ever, the differences observed in the existing specimens are not clear enough to 

 justify separation at present. One or two specimens are outliers in some dimensions 

 of the principal component analysis (Text-fig. 566) almost as distant from the main 

 clump as those of A . cnaphorus. This is largely a reflection of the mandible variation 

 mentioned above. 



Holotype $ imago, paratype <$ and $ imagos and workers from type-colony, 

 Ghana: 10 m. N. of Wenchi on Bamboi Road, 30.iii.1959 (W. A. Sands Coll., No. 

 S.2689), in British Museum (Natural History). 



Other paratype material. Ghana: 5| m. from Dunkwa on Obuasi Road, 4JV.1959 

 (W. A. Sands) ; Aburi, 1926 (W. H. Patterson). Ivory Coast: Youhouli, 10 km N. of 

 Dabou, 13. v. 1963 and 'Basse Cote DTvoire' (P. Bodot). Sierra Leone: Freetown, 

 8.1.1958 (W. Wilkinson). Guinea: Mount Nimba, Route de Keoulenta, x.1951 

 (M. Lamotte) in AMNH. Nigeria: Northern Region, Fan, near Forum, Jos plateau, 

 25.vii.1957, 3 m. from Ankpa on Dekina Road, 6.iii.iQ58 ; Western Region, 27 m. S. 

 of Ilorin on Oyo Road, 4.xii.i957 and between Shagamu and Ijebu-Ode, 14.xii.1957 

 (W. A. Sands) ; Eastern Region, 40 m. from Port Harcourt on Owerri Road, 19.iii.1957 

 (W. Wilkinson). Cameroun: Mamfe, 27. v. 1957 (W. Wilkinson). Democratic 

 Republic of Congo: Stanleyville, 26. v. 1948 (A. Emerson), in AMNH. 



All material is in the British Museum (Natural History) unless otherwise stated. 

 Fourteen nest-series have been examined. Most of the records are from the mounds 

 of other species, either Cubitermes, Procubiterm.es or Macrotermes. Some are from 

 loose soil near tree roots and the habitats range from dense rain forest to Northern 

 Guinean Savanna. 



