No. 559] SHORTER ARTICLES AND DISCUSSIOX 433 



and have a diameter at the base of ten or twelve feet. They have 

 no visible openings. 



Habits of African Termites. — While the ants of equatorial 

 Africa do not seem to be nearly so numerous or of nearly so 

 much importance to man as those of tropical America, 1 the 

 termites and their work are evident throughout practically the 

 entire Congo basin. They are not a serious pest, however, as 

 their habits are known, and only simple precautions are required 

 to prevent their ravages. 



Termites seldom expose themselves to the light, so if an object 

 is placed on supports so far from the ground that they can not 

 easily fill up the intervening space with earth, it is practically 

 safe from their attacks. If, on the other hand, the object hap- 

 pens to be an especially palatable piece of wood, a bale of cloth, 

 or a leather case, and is placed directly on the ground, it is 

 remarkable how soon the termites will find it and begin their 

 attack. A box left in this way seldom suffers much damage the 

 first day, but if left for several days, the bottom may be pretty 

 completely eaten away. 



I have never known termites to do any damage farther than 

 about two feet above ground, but there is another insect, a small 

 beetle, which will often eat away the entire inside of building 

 timber leaving nothing visible of their work but the small holes 

 where the insects enter the stick and finely powdered wood which 

 they throw out through those holes. 



There are several species of timber, however, which are not 

 attacked by either insect. The walls of practically all of the 

 buildings of the Congo are supported by timbers driven into 

 the ground, and where these timbers are selected by natives who 

 understand the habits of the insects, they are seldom eaten away. 



Termites as Food. — I noticed one evening that termites were 

 swarming from all of the nests around our camp. A cry went 

 up among the natives, and the women and children ran with 

 dishes of water and seated themselves around the openings in 

 the nests. They then caught as many of the insects as they 

 could, and either put them into the water so that they could not 

 fly away, or ate them at once. Those which were put into the 

 water were afterwards dried and were considered a delicacy. 



Donald Steel 



Oeoville, Calif. 



1 J. C. Branner, "Geologic Work of Ants in Tropical America," Bull. 

 Geol Soc. Amer., XXI, 444-496. 



