1877.] 269 [Hubbard. 



of several nests made about the middle of February, at which time 

 the winged males and females of several species were beginning to 

 swarm. 



No. 1. Nest built upon the ground at the foot of a tree. Con- 

 tained no winged brood (males and females). They had probably 

 swarmed. Eggs and young were found at the bottom, and nearest 

 the tree. A single queen in her cell at the centre of the nest. 

 Abdomen distended and seven-tenths of an inch long. No eggs 

 near the queen. 



No. 2. Quite a large nest; if broken up would fill a a flour-barrel. 

 Placed on the ground near, but not touching, the foot of a palm. 

 Eggs at the bottom. A single queen in the exact centre, and sur- 

 rounded by termites, who tried to drag her back into the cell out of 

 which she had fallen when the nest was split open. No eggs near 

 the queen, and no winged brood in any stage of growth. 



No. 3. A very large nest, size of a hogshead, placed in the crotch 

 of a tree, five feet from the ground. Galleries larger and texture 

 coarser than in the two mentioned above. On cutting into it innu- 

 merable winged termites swarmed forth. Some of them made short, 

 weak flights and soon scattered over a wide area, attracting to the 

 spot a great number of birds, lizards, snakes, toads and other ani- 

 mals, which during the two days occupied in the examination of 

 this nest, continued to pursue and prey upon the helpless termites. 

 Winged brood occupied exclusively the external portions of the nest, 

 which to a depth of six or eight inches consisted of thin laminse, the 

 broad interspaces between them affording greater freedom of move- 

 ment to their long wings than the intersecting cavities of the interior. 

 These outside layers appear to be a temporary structure built up for 

 the accommodation of the swarming brood, and did not occur in the 

 first two nests. The interior very compact and tough, containing 

 many small nodules scattered through it. A considerable portion of 

 the upper part of the nest presented a more open, reticulated struc- 

 ture, with larger cavities and more rounded partitions of brittle 

 material ; this region seemed adapted to the accommodation of the 

 immature termites whose wings were not fully developed, and was 

 chiefly occupied by them. 



The bottom of the nest between the forks of the tree was earthy, 

 apparently old and rotten, and contained eggs, or newly hatched 

 termites. A single queen in her cell was found just below the cen- 

 tre. Her abdomen was more than an inch long, but flabby, diseol- 



