Hubbard.] 274 [December 26, 



inside. The adult winged termites were all in the exterior layers, 

 built, I think, for their accommodation, and the immature males and 

 females were probably also in their proper place. But of course 

 soon everything became confused. The long winged adults tried to 

 hide in the interior, and crowded into the narrow galleries, while the 

 undeveloped ones scattered through every part of the nest. I could 

 not be sure that in the disturbance, some adult termites which had 

 been relieved of their wings, had not also penetrated into the neigh- 

 borhood of the queen's cell. As, however, I only found four such, I 

 am inclined to think their presence there was not accidental. You 

 can probably determine whether they are males or not. 1 In the case 

 of nest No. 5, where a single sexual form, with wings removed, was 

 found in the cell with the queen, I do not think there is much room 

 for doubt. It could hardly have been an accidental wanderer, as I 

 luckily struck the queen cell in a few minutes after cutting into the 

 nest, and the greater part of the nest was left undisturbed in the 

 crotch of the tree. Indeed, 1 could not approach it at all from one 

 side, which was partly occupied by red ants, so I tore out a large 

 fragment from the interior containing many large nodules, and car- 

 ried it away from the vicinity of the flying winged termites. In 

 this, fortunately, I found the queen. 



No. 5 was quite a large nest, very bright colored, and apparently 

 younger than the others. The nodules, a number of which I send 

 you, also looked bright and new, and even very large. You will 

 notice the eroded appearance where the young termites have 

 gnawed them away. I noticed several of the queens from the older 

 nests (especially the one from nest No. 3) looked more or less ex- 

 hausted and partially discolored, so that I thought they were dead and 

 decaying at first, but in every case they proved to be alive. When I 

 lifted them up with my forceps by the middle, the two portions of the 

 abdomen hung down, so as to bring the head and anal extremity 

 together. They were soft and flabby, but after they had been a 

 week or two in alcohol they became plump and rigid again. Queen 

 No. 3, which was quite discolored, seems to me to have brightened 

 considerably. Some of the queens were, however, very plump and 

 white when taken from the cell. 



Besides termites I send you a few larvae, etc., of Neuroptera, 

 collected in the Wagwater River, at Stony Hill, near Kingston. 

 Among them are the cases and larvae of BelicopsycJie, but I had no 

 chance to raise the imagos, and some larvae of Isephenus. 

 1 All are males. Dr. H. 



