328 
Philippine Journal of Science 
Measurements of the soldier. 
1919 
mm. 
Length of body 
4.50 
Length of head with mandibles 
2.12 
Length of head without mandibles 
1.40 
Width of head 
1.12 
Width of pronotum 
0.74 
Length of pronotum 
0.47 
Worker. — Head yellow; clypeus somewhat paler; antennae and 
legs straw-colored, thorax and abdomen whitish; head moder- 
ately pilose; thorax and abdominal tergites densely provided 
with minute hairs. 
Head spherical; antennae 17-jointed, third joint smallest, 
second joint elongate, more than twice as long as third, fourth 
joint slightly longer than third; postclypeus swollen, more than 
twice as broad as long, anterior border concave; anteclypeus 
whitish, anterior border convex; pronotum saddle-shaped, much 
narrower than head, anterior border strongly elevated, indented 
at middle, posterior border rounded, curved at middle. 
Measurements of the worker . 
mm. 
Length of body 
3.50 
Width of head 
1.31 
Width of pronotum 
0.62 
Distribution. — Odontotermes formosanus is one of the com- 
monest species in Formosa. It has been recorded from Ishiga- 
kijima and South China (Amoy and Foochow). 
Remarks. — This species attacks living plants. It is a serious . 
pest to sugar cane and young camphor trees. 
CERTAIN HABITS OF COPTOTERMES FORMOSANUS SHIRAKI 
DIFFERENT CASTES IN THE COLONY 
Generally the members of a termite colony differ greatly at 
different times of the year. Eggs and newly hatched larvse 
of Coptotermes formosanus are most numerous in the summer; 
winged forms and nymphs are not present after the swarming 
season (from the end of May to the beginning of June) ; nymphs 
increase in number in the spring, becoming most abundant in 
April; at the end of May the nymph changes to an imago and 
usually swarms during the first ten days of June. A complete 
colony contains the following castes: 
1. Newly hatched larvas. The heads of all are alike in dimensions and 
are provided with 10-jointed antennas. 
2. Larvae of soldier, derived from 1. Distinctly differs from the other 
castes in having somewhat elongate, toothless mandibles and sub- 
orbicular head. 
