BIOLOGY OF THE TERMITES OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 51 
Grassi states:® "On 'April 17, 1891, about 11 a. m., I detected the 
king and queen in coitu in a glass containing a small Calotermes 
nest * * *. They stood end to end in a straight line with the 
tips of their abdomen applied to each other * * *. It is there- 
fore certain that the connection takes place in the nest, and is re- 
peated at intervals." Sandias states 5 that he observed what 
appears to be a similar process between substitute forms still far 
from maturity, being only about a fortnight old. 
The Rev. F. L. Odenbach, of St. Ignatius College, Cleveland, Ohio, 
has noted (MSS.) the copulation of neoteinic royalty (Leucotermes 
flavipes), namely, the mating of supplementary queens, time and 
again in artificial nests. On March 11 and 29, 1898, he observed 
many sexed adults pairing, coitu lasting about three minutes. He 
further states that the same queen has connection repeatedly with 
different males. On December 27, 1899, in describing the pairing 
of neoteinic royalty with short wing pads, he states: "The introduc- 
tion is a lively play with feet and feelers, heads looking in opposite 
ways, the bodies curved together so as to make a circle, then the 
male slips along the body of the female until the organs meet; then 
they stand in one line, heads looking in opposite directions. The 
body is moved backward and forward, hinging on the legs and 
finally to both sides, as if they wished to telescope the abdomens. 
Time of connection, about one minute." 
Heath states c * * * "almost a fortnight after swarming, I 
have on several occasions seen the royal pair of Termopsis in coitu. 
With their bodies closely appressed end to end in a straight line they 
remain from one to ten minutes in contact." 
Egg laying in the case- of flavipes begins about the middle of June 
or July, varying with the season, or about one and one-half months 
after the swarming. While the eggs hatch in about 10 days after 
they are laid, larvae of varying sizes are often present, since they do 
not all hatch uniformly. Most of the first broods develop workers 
and a few soldiers, as the workers constitute the caste most necessary 
to the conduct of the young colony. At this time the queen and the 
male still occupy the royal cell together and the queen, with abdomen 
only slightly distended, cares for and carries about the eggs and later 
the young larvae in her mouth, when the colony is disturbed. The 
royal cell is kept clean and the sides are now smoothed. 
Recently hatched larvse are fed on prepared food and do not eat 
wood until later in their development. On January 8 and 15, 1896, 
Odenbach observed workers to draw a white substance of the con- 
sistency of butter from the anus of neoteinic queens and devour it. 
a Grassi, B., and Sandias, A. Op cit., p. 285-286. 
b Ibid., p. 386. 
c Heath, Harold. Op. cit., p. 52. 
