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Psyche 5:250-254, 1888.

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HAB. Common, neatly everywhere.
I have seen the types of Burmeister,
Rambur, Selys and Say in Harris col-
lection. Canada, Quebec ; Maine, Nor-
way ; Massachusetts, everywhere ; New
York; Wisconsin, Upper Wisconsin
River ; Illinois ; Ohio ; Maryland; Ken- tucky ; Kansas ; N. Carolina ; S. Caro-
lina ; Georgia ; Washington, D . C. ;
Tennessee ; Florida ; Texas.
The species described will perhaps
have to be reduced to four. The mate-
rial known for C. u~zgusti$ennis is de-
cidedly not adequate ; if a larger num-
ber should prove the differences given for C. amata not persistent, the two spe-
cies will belong together.
I acknow-
ledge this to be possible ; after our
actual knowledge the union can not be
proposed on mere guessing.
C. dimidiata and C. apicalis have
to be accepted as belonging to the same
species.
C. aequahilis has nothing to do
with C. dtmidiata. C. mac~data is
very striking, and surely different from all the other species.
C. s$en(i?ens Hagen Synops. Neur.
N. A. 58.6 is surely not to be found
here. It was quoted after a specimen
in Escher Zollikofer's collection, said to have been sent from Georgia by Abbot.
A CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS A KNOWLEDGE OF TERMITES.~ BY BATTISTA GRASSI, CATANIA.
We will begin with Calotermesflav-
icollis.
I am able to state that individ-
uals (young nymphs) provided with
short wings,2 wing pad of Hagen, can be
developed into supplementary kings and
queens.
These supplementary kings and
queens are :
I. Individuals (youngest larvae of
Fritz Muller) which are not developed
enough to be considered either as sol-
diers (in Calotermes there are no
workers) or as sexually mature forms
1 Translated from Entomnlogische Nachrichten, Juli, 1889, 15 Jahrg', No. 14,~. 213-219. 2 I use this term
in the Fritz Miiller sense, for the
first formation ofthe wing, just as wing-stump (scale) is used for what remains after the wing is torn off. with fully developed wings (winged
individuals of Fritz Muller.)
2. Sexually mature larvae and
nymphs with longer or shorter wings.
I have some supplementary kings and
queens two and three years of age
which show the same characters that
they did at the time of their election,
and consequently they do not show the
slightest development of the wings, the
color of the body alone has become
darker (yellowish brown).
The sexual organs of the supple-
mentary kings and queens are identical
with those of the true kings and queens. The anal appendages which are always
present in the true queen are often




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August-December 1889.1 z'5'~. 251
wanting in the supplementary queen ;
they are always present in the supple-
mentary king and the true king.
I have tried very many times to pro-
duce supplementary kings and queens,
but always with the same results, which
I have already published.
We will now take up my observations
on Termes Zucifugus.
The nymphs of the second form
(Les@s) usually become mature about
the month of August, almost always in
the nymph form with longer or shorter
wings. Their comparison with the sup-
plementary kings and queens must there-
fore be accepted as proved, although it
depends here upon a complicated and
unusual phenomenon which gives the
colony of Terns Zucz~ug-us a very
peculiar appearance. I have studied
the termites for more than five years and among' thousands and thousands of Ter-
mes Zucz'ft~gus have never succeeded
in finding a true king or queen with
wing-stumps, that is to say the remain-
ing stumps after the perfect wings have
been torn off.
In past years I have had many little
colonies of winged individuals confined
in cages and later in the natural course met with true kings and queens. If
one looks for Termes Zuczj5ugus about
the middle of the month of May in the
dead wood of certain kinds of trees he
will find youngest larvae, larvae of
various stages, many young nymphs of
the second form, partly of the male and
partly of the female sex, and many in-
dividuals incapable of reproduction
(workers and soldiers) whilst in other
trees, chiefly in the dead roots, in addi- tion to all the above mentioned larval
stages and nymphs of the second form,
many masses of eggs in different stages
of development and hundreds or indeed
even thousands of mature females with
swollen abdomens and showing a certain
quantity of small roundish bodies
spermatozoa) in their spei-matheca.
That the above mentioned eggs were
laid by these females one can easily con- vince himself if lie will place some of
the latter in a frame with a few pieces
of moist tender wood-it is understood
that the transfer of the eggs has been
guarded against-and leave them undis-
turbed ; after one or two days they
begin egg-laying and soon find for
themselves different nests in the frame. These females can be directly separated
from the nymphs of the second form,
possessing of course the characteristics already mentioned by me in another
place, that is short wings, brown facet- ted eyes, etc., and are to be compared
therefore with the supplementary queens
(I shall call them complementary
queens.)
In the preceeding month, April, one
finds out of doors almost the same con-
ditions except that the nymphs of the
second form (there exist nevertheless
many larvae capable of reproduction)
and the eggs are wanting, whilst the
winged forms swarm in hundreds or
thousands.
During the winter months (from De-
cember to March) the termite colony
appears to us almost exactly as it does
in April, in place of the winged forms




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252 ~'.S'~TL?JF. [August-December 1889.
you find nymphs, that is nymphs of the
first form. In general the development
of the termites ceases during the winter months. For the autumn months my
observations are incomplete. It is never- theless certain that in the month of
August the nymphs of the second form
have already become complementary
kings and queens ; they conceal them-
selves in the remotest parts of the nest, copulate and the queen lays eggs until
November. The complementary kings
as a rule die before the beginning of
winter, only a few live until December.
I have never found one of them after
the month of December.
Taking all these important facts to-
gether and many others which I have
but partially given here we come to the
following conclusions ; the termite col- ony produces yearly an immense num-
ber of sexually mature individuals.
Those mature in spring, acquire com-
pletely developed wings (winged fosms)
and leave the mother nest in order as
kings and queens to form a new colony,
a happiness however they but rarely
share (in this I partly agree with Fritz Muller) .
But those which mature in summer
acquire only wing-pads, remain in the
nest, copulate and reproduce (comple-
mentary kings and queens). The com-
plementary kings die'before the begin-
ning of winter so that the queens are
left alone ; the latter cease to lay eggs during the winter and spring, but in
May they commence again when they
make use of the spermatozoa they have
had in their spermatheca since the pre-
ceding fall.
How long these comple-
mentary queens are able to live I do not surely know, but you find some of a
dusky (yellowish-brown) color, some-
what like the nymphs of the second
form, and others wholly of a dark
brown color, many of these have longer
wings than the others and this occurs
not only with the dark brown forms but
also with those of a yellowish brown
color. All the complementary queens
which are found in the same colony
have very nearly the same color and but
little variation in the length of the
wings. Whilst therefore the difference
in color in the complementary queens
might at first sight lead us to think that they live several years, my additional
facts make it much more probable that
they die about the month of August and
certainly by the time the new comple-
mentary kings and queens mature. The
diflerence in color shows therefore a
simple variation just as the difference in the length of the wings. However we
will leave the definite solution of this question for future research and we
come now to the results of the yearly
production of complementary kings and
queens. We will suppose that in one
place tree A is found invaded by
Termes, then we shall see after a cer-
tain time, that is when the population
(living colony) in the above tree A has
reached a certain size, the colony ex-
tends to the neighboring tree B ; the
complementary queen however remains
in the first tree A. The extension takes place either under ground or directly
in the air thus it frequently happens




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August-December- 1889. J PSYCHE. 253
that we discover the Termes under-
ground between two trees occupied by
Termes or also find trees, the dead
parts of which are inhabited by Termes
without being able to find the slightest sign of a communication with the
neighboring nest.
One easily sees that he only has a
partial nest from the fact that the com- plementary queen is found in one of
these trees whilst she is wanting in
all the others ; all other individuals
including the youngest larvae are
found in both trees only the latter
are in far greater numbers in the tree in which the complementary queens are
found. If we suppose that the above
migration from tree A to tree B to have
taken place in the month of March then
we shall find in April that nymphs of
the second form exist in the tree A as
well as the tree B and that in August
numerous pairs of complementary kings
and queens have developed in both trees
from these nymphs of the second form.
In the natural course of time thou-
sands of other trees can be infested from the described tree B and thus a whole
territory may be invaded from a single
colony ; in the same way the Termes
colony is immortal and compensates
for the great difficulty in the foundation of new colonies.
However if we take a fragment of a
termite nest without a royal pair at a
time when the nymphs of the second
forrrt have not yet developed or such a
fragment in which only some few of the
same are to be found and insulate it so
thoroughly that no communication with
the mother nest can take place, we shall then see individual Temes more or less
numerous 20-30-40 which are still un-
differentiated (youngest larvae) or young larvae capable of reproduction, that is
to say provided only with the first ru-
diments of the wings, bring forth sup-
plementary kings and queens. It is
very probable also that the nymphs of
the first form can be metamorphosed
into supplementary kings and queens,
but I could not determine this, however
I deny that the workers or soldiers of
both of these stages can be changed into supplementary kings and queens.
The following is another important
fact; in each termite nest in which
nymphs of the first form, or white
winged ones, are found there are always
two or three females to one male. On
the other hand one will find at the end
of the period of swarming, that is at
the time when only a few nests swarm-
ing with winged individuals are to be
met with, in each one of the nests
among these winged ones, either only
males or only females, very rarely one
finds a male among the females.
How these occurrences were related to
each other during the time of the great- est swarming I was unfortunately un-
able to observe, but conjecture that the females were confined to one part of the nest and the males to another part and
that they migrated independently of
each other and also at two different
times. The object of this being to pre-
vent the formation of new colonies be-
tween close blood relations, a formation which I sometimes obtained by skil-




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254 Ps TChV3'. [August-December 1889.
fully placing a certain number of white
winged forms taken from one and the
same nest beneath a frame. The in-
voluntary inhabitants of these frames
changed their color, lost their wings to the scale, copulated and never at-
tempted to leave their case and in May
the females began to lay eggs,
In what way are the complementary
or supplementary king and queen de-
veloped ? Alas for this answer I must
confess myself at fault but I can state
for the Calotcrmes as well as for the
Temes that all individuals during the
time of casting their skins lose the pro- tozoa which they have in their caecum
in greater or less quantities. Immedi-
ately after casting the skin they acquire them again except such individuals as
are designed for supplementary or com-
plementary kings and queens do not ac-
quire the protozoa again (the fact is
proved in one to five hundred supple-
mentary and complementary kings and
queens from many nests) ; very soon
they become darker colored and by de-
grees they are sexually mature.
Mean-
while the usual food was continued,
whether it was at any time added to I
do not know but it is certain, as I have already said, that the protozoa do not
appear again. But if we consider that
the mass of the protozoa in the soldiers, workers and the larvae is always the
same, that they change the caecum into
a sac which presses on the sexual organs so that one involuntarily believes that, these protozoa must be the cause of the
infertility of the soldiers and workers1 and that the Termes by avoiding these
protozoa can hasten the sexual maturity
of the individuals destined for supple-
mentary and complementary kings and
queens. In what manner and way this
happens I have as yet been unable to-
discover.
1 In the nymphs of the first form of the Terms, in the nymphs of the Calotermes, in the winged forms and the true royal couples of both species the protozoa are found in small quantities.
REVIEW OF THE FORMS BELONGING TO THE TERMITE COLONY. TERMES LUCIFUGUS.
I. Youngest larvae.
7
-- ---
7
a. Larvae unfit for reproduction. 3. Larvae fit for reproduction. 4. Supplementary
---A- -, r---- A---- 7 royal pairs. I.
5. Larvae of 6. Larvae of 9. Nymphs of 10. Nymphs of 11. Supplementary soldiers. workers. 1st form. ad form. royal pairs. 2. 7. Soldiers. 8. Workers. 12. Winged 13. Supplementary 15. Complementary forms. royal pairs. ? royal pairs.
+--7
I+. True royal
pairs.




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August-December 1889.1 ps2TflE.
I. Youngest larvae.
7- -----A ----
-
3. Larvae unfit for reproduction.
3. Larvae fit for reproduction.
Supplementary royal pairs. 3.
~ - - ~ 7 ---- 7
5. Soldiers. 6. Nymphs. 7. Supplementary royal pairs. 4. ----- -----
-7
8. Winged forms.
9. Supplementary royal pairs. 5.
7
10. True royal pairs.
I. Found only when No. 14, 15 and 11 fail, or the last two present in insufficient numbers. 2. ' " 14, 15 and 4 " " 46 '' represented in insufficient numbers. 3. " " " 10, 7 ,and 9 fail.
4. " 'I " " 10, g and 4 fail.
5. '$ " " io,~ and 4 fail.
NOTES ON ASILIDAE.
BY S.' W. WILLISTON, NEW HAVEN, CONN.
In the preparation, some time ago, of
a catalogue of the South American
asilidae, and a partial study of a Bra-
zilian collection, I made a number of
notes, some of which seem of sufficient
interest to publish. The catalogue in-
cludes no less than five hundred and
forty names, not counting known syno-
nyms, located under seventy-seven
genera. The determination of species
from among some of these is a dreary
task, and in such genera as &ax, with
its seventy-six "species," or Mallopho-
ra, with fifty-six, almost impossible,
save by the aid of large collections.
Undoubtedly there are many synonyms
among the names, yet, enough must
remain to demonstrate the richness of
the South American fauna in this fam-
ily.
In a comparison of the generic names
I have found several preoccupied, for
which I would propose the following :
For La/arus Loew, non Billberg, NEO-
LAPARUS ; for c~?Iz'ndå´i~ophor Philippi, - LYNCHIA, in honor of Enrique Lynch
A. ; for Phoneus Macquart, NEOPHO-
NEUS ; and, by the strict rights of
priority, in which I fully believe, Neo- mocths 0. S. must give place to
HELIGMONEURA Bigot, and And~aeno-
soma Rondani to NUSA Walker.
It is very singular that Schiner, with
his entomological acuteness should have
so misunderstood the genus Senobasis
Macquart, as he seems to have done.
Macquart's characters were as follows :
"Charact6res gkn6siques des Dasy-
pogons. Troisi&me article des antennes
si base trh menues et extr6mit6 fort
renflee et ovale. Abdomen a base re-
tr6cie ; armature copulatrice $ si pieces lat6rales en forme de crochets allonges. Cuisses nues. Ailes : quartrikme cellule post6rieu1-e fermee, il nervure terminale arrondie." In his figures of 5'. analis




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