April & August. 1999 
15 
the local and apparently atypical, behaviour pattern at 
a time of year when ram. of whtch there appears little 
prospect, would be more than welcome’’ 
After first ram in mid-April, curious paired seed- 
leaves. flat on the ground and about the size of a little 
fingernail, appeared on and around a harvester termite 
nest near my gate, and produced from the centre a small 
Y shaped green shoot which elongated rapidly and 
branched to sprawl along the soil surface rather like a 
prostrate Bowieia kilinumdschancu. 
Lise and Tim Campbell, always invaluable where 
botanical oddities and obscurities are concerned, visited 
on 24th April by which time tiny flowers and small 
rounded fruits were visible. Lise identified the plants 
as Myrmecosicyos messorius of the family 
Cucurbitaccae tp. 91 in Upland Kenya Wild Flowers by 
A D Q. Agnew and Shirley Agnew, 1994. plate 23- 
WHY do plates not include page numbers for the 
relevant text in this otherwise excellent reference? A 
perennial source of irritation not to mention unnecessary 
wear and tear on the book). 
It is apparently found only m this botanical area 
and in some parts of the Rift Valley, always on or around 
harvester nests, although by no means all of them 
Harvesters were observed rolling ripe fruits into next 
openings— do they harvest it to farm 9 And if so. what 
is their relationship with the plant? As further fruits 
ripened I distributed them among other nests in the 
vicinity. These fruits also were rolled promptly into 
nest openings; the next rains will, presumably, tell 
whether seeds will germinate 
While the habitat offered to a small prostrate plant, 
by the hare ground surrounding harvester nests, spares 
it from competition with taller or more aggressive 
species of vegetation, this exclusive relationship must 
surely offer some form of mutual benefit us well. 
When Dr Andrew Agnew was engaged in fieldwork 
to update his excellent book, he had apparently not seen 
this plant in habitat until Lise and Tim brought him to 
the area, and it is Tim's (as ever) first-class botanical 
drawing of Myrmecosicyos messorius in the finished 
work 
Dee Ruvnicr, P.O. Box 2356 Machakos Kenya. Tel 
messages: 02 603777/603659. Fax messages: c/o 02 
501758/600557 
HARD TIMES FOR TERMITES? 
I suspect we all share Dee Raymer’s impression that 
termite allies emerge nftcr rain, and also her surprise 
at seeing this happen during a drought The swarming 
of winged termites (and also ants) occurs when the 
chances of founding a new nest are maximal. Normally 
this is when the first rains fall, and these nuptial flights 
are particularly intense after a prolonged dry period 
Such conditions herald a flush of plant productivity 
(ensuring abundant food resources), favourable 
microclimates, and soft soil in which new nests can be 
easily excavated. They also provide cues for synchronising 
flights over a wide area, thus swamping predators and 
maximising the possibility of outbreeding between males 
and females from different nests. So Dec's observation 
is indeed curious. 
Could ii be that hard times for termites force them 
to cut their losses? Feeding and maintaining thousands 
of alatcs that make little or no contribution to the upkeep 
of a colony must be a costly business. If the rains are 
seriously delayed, might it not be better to forget about 
founding new nests and kick them out. hoping for better . 
limes next year? 
Ian J, Gordon. Box 10018 Bamburi PO.. Mombasa, 
Kenya 
Myrmecosicyos messorius by Tim Campbell Reproduced with permission from Upland Kenya 
Wild Flowers by A D Q Agnew and S Agnew. 
