1877.] 73 [Hagen. 



about on the horizontal surface of the trunk, examining the crevices, 

 but not attempting to descend into them. Torn off wings were lying 

 in numbers on the trunk. On the previous day (July 17) I had 

 seen the same species flying about at Summit, Sierra Nevada, altitude 

 7042 feet. I observed a pine trunk out of which they were emerg- 

 ing, a proof that they actually live and breed at that altitude. July 

 22, the same were flying about Webber Lake, 7000 feet altitude. I 

 observed a couple of blue birds which had their nest on the verandah 

 and fed their young with these Termites. 



The smaller species of Termes I observed on the wing at the Gey- 

 sers, Sonoma Co., May 6. Seeing the air filled with them about the 

 hotel, I soon found a plank on the ground, from under which they 

 were emerging, coming from under ground. As the spot was in the 

 yard of the hotel, I could not well dig very deep in the soil. At the 

 same time I noticed a number of individuals on the soil, which had 

 already shed their wings and were running about in couples. One of 

 the individuals forming those couples looked a little longer and more 

 pubescent at the end of the abdomen than the other ; thus inducing 

 the belief that those were the two sexes. I watched these couples 

 for some time, running one after the other, very sedulously, but I 

 never saw them copulate. About this time I was called to dinner, 

 and saw similar couples running about on the table-cloth. I secured 

 several such couples, both in alcohol and on pins. I never saw the 

 Termopsis run about in couples in that way. 



At Manitou, Colorado, Aug. 19, I saw a small Termes flying (per- 

 haps a different species), and observed similar, already wingless, 

 couples on the ground. Some specimens are preserved in the col- 

 lection. 



Note by Dr. Hagen. The observation on Termopsis is interesting, as 

 nothing is on record about it. This species gains an additional interest from 

 the fact, that it is the only surviving species of a genus, of which several fossil 

 species occur in amber and in different tertiary strata. It forms of itself a very 

 distinct group among the Termitina. 1 have some larvae from Central America 

 which may belong to a different species. 



The altitude at which this species was found (7-8000 feet) is also entirely 

 new. We have no record of any species of Termes having been found even 

 half so high. 



The specimens of Termes from Sonoma County I cannot distinguish from the 

 common Termes flavipes of the Atlantic States. This is very remarkable, as it 

 has not been known to occur west of the Eocky Mountains ; at least I have 

 never seen similar specimens in any collection, nor any record of the fact. 



Finally, the specimens from Manitou belong to a new species, which, singu- 

 larly enough, comes nearest to the Termes lucifugus of Europe. Here again the 

 altitude (6000 feet) is worthy of notice. 



