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[Vol. 93 
Alternatively, the significance of the association between larvae 
and reproductives may be just the reverse: the larvae may be feeding 
the royal pair. What were classified as “larvae” in this study were 
approximately the first three instars. The newly hatched larvae, 
lacking intestinal flagellates, cannot feed themselves and therefore 
would not be expected to be able to feed other individuals either. 
But by the third instar the termites possess the intestinal symbionts, 
and can feed themselves. It may be that the younger instars (beyond 
the first or second) are responsible for the care of the reproductives. 
There is some evidence in other species of termites (reviewed by 
McMahan, 1979) that it is the younger workers that are primarily 
concerned with colony feeding functions, while older workers spe- 
cialize in other acitivities. 
These two alternatives could probably be distinguished by means 
of careful observations on the behavior of larvae and reproductives 
in laboratory colonies. 
The aggregation of alates within the colony is interesting, and 
parallels laboratory observations on groups of alates removed from 
colonies. The aggregation may reflect a tendency of the alates to 
accumulate near an exit hole in preparation for emergence. The data 
in Fig. 4 demonstrate that the tendency to aggregate begins in the 
preceding nymphal stages. Buchli (1961) described an accumulation 
of late-stage nymphs and alates in the upper and peripheral regions 
of nests of Reticulitermes lucifugus, but this was apparently due to 
an antagonism between these stages and the main body of workers 
of the nest. In /. schwarzi nymphs and alates appear to aggregate in 
the main part of the colony without any mutual show of antagonism 
with other nestmates. 
A striking feature of six of the nine colonies (PL476, PL477, 
PL480, PL486, PL487, and PL490) was a tendency for the termites 
to distribute themselves in the wood in two distinct groups. In gen- 
eral, the caste composition was about the same for the upper and 
lower groups (the excess of nymphs or alates in the bottom group in 
colonies PL480 and PL486 may simply be a secondary effect of the 
tendency of these castes to clump together). It seems unlikely, given 
the regular differences found in the distribution of the major castes, 
that this bimodal distribution is somehow an artefact of the proce- 
dure used in cutting the colony into segments with a consequent 
wholesale redistribution of members of the colony. It may be that as 
