118 
NEUROPTERA. 
is apparently a product derived from the chewed fibre the workers bring 
in. These nests are often two and three feet in diameter. The situation 
of the nest varies with the species; the nests of some Indian species are 
deep in the soil, of others near or at the surface or in banks. Apparently 
this varies with the nature of the soil, the same species building its nest 
at different depths in different localities. 
The student should consult Petch’s paper on the fungi of certain 
termite nests in Ceylon (Ann. Roy. Bot. Garden, Peradeniya III, p. 
185, 1906). Though dealing with species not occurring in our fauna, 
the account of the fungi is of special interest. The ‘ ‘small white, stalked 
or almost sessile spheres” observed by him on the spongy masses are 
probably similar to those observed in the nests of Termes obesus in India. 
The origin and nature of these spheres or their connection with other 
fungus forms connected with the nests is not clear. The author states 
that the spongy masses are wholly formed of the excrement of the work¬ 
ers ; that this material is probably sterilised by its passage through the 
alimentary canal, and that not only are special fungi cultivated on it 
but that other fungi, not desired by the termites, grow which are 
weeded by the workers ; when a nest is abandoned these ‘weeds’ grow 
unchecked. He also states that it is probable but not proved that 
these white spheres form the food of the termites, and that it is not 
clear if a difference of food causes the differentiation of the forms 
seen in a termite’s nest. The hills are formed wholly of material 
removed from the nest in excavating and covered with saliva, which 
the workers take out of the nest and build up into masses ; there is 
no definite object in these chimneys which would probably blow away 
were the material not covered with saliva and of such a nature as to 
compact firmly. 
Termites are extremely destructive in houses, owing to their fond¬ 
ness for woody matter. On obtaining entry to a house, they will 
destroy wooden beams and rafters, door frames, window frames and 
other wooden portions, without such a fact being at all evident 
at first. Having obtained access to wood at the soil or having 
taken a tunnel up to it, they work wholly within and remove the 
woody fibre. No estimate is possible of the amount of damage thus 
caused in India, and the prevalence of termites varies immensely 
