no 



2. — Is the rubber in the nest used as food by the termite ? 



(a) To feed the young larvae. 



(b) To serve as food during the period of inactivity, if there 



is one. 



The origin of the nest. How is it first formed ? 



Where do the termites found in the nest in the crown of the 

 root come from in the first instance ? 



Length of time which elapses from period of first attack to 

 time the tree is seen to be dying. 



Depth below the surface at which the termites work. 



Proportion of active workers to non-workers in a community. 



Do the insects always work in the dark ? 



It is possible to reach the nest without killing the tree ? 



The position occupied by the king and queen termites in the 

 nest. 



n. — Are there any subsidiary galleries radiating from the cen- 

 tral nest to other parts of the plantation, either above or 

 below ground ? If so, where do these go ? 



12. — Is the nest connected in any way with adjacent ones in 



neighbouring trees. 



13. — The parts played by the heterocerous larvae and the grub and 



beetle of the coleopterous pupa found in the nest. 



These are some of the points which occur to me as requiring 

 solution. Doubtless others will present themselves to Managers on 

 the spot. Until we have answers to these questions from careful 

 observations made on the spot, it is almost impossible to say what 

 would be the best way of combating this extremely serious pest. 

 So much money has been, and is being, put into rubber plantations 

 in what may be termed the Indo-Malayan region, which is evidently 

 the home of Termes Gestroi, that it behoves us to take up this 

 question of the study of its life history fully and without delay. 



I shall be exceedingly obliged if readers of this note will kindly 

 send me all the information they can procure upon the insect at an 

 early date. 



Indian Forester Vol. XXXII, no. 



NOTE ON THE ABOVE. 



This paper by Mr. Stebbing seemed well worthy of reproducing 

 in the Bulletin as not only does it go as far as is known into the 

 history of the pest, but propounds a series of queries which some 

 of the planters might be able to answer. 



The statement that the termite eats the rubber seems highly im- 

 probable and surely requires verification. Rubber is of course 

 found in the hollow of the tree having exuded inwards from the 

 bark. The termites in ordinary trees bore from the hollow trunk 



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