. Bulletin. Insects; Insect pests; Entomology; Insects; Insect pests; Entomology. 24 INSECTS INJUKIOUS TO FOKESTS. Tcniiites (Leucotermes spp.) also inhabit subterranean passages. Drummond has compared tropical species of termites to earthworms and declared that the}^ are equally as beneficial to man in aerating the soil. After swarming, many of tlie sexed adults excavate shallow cells in the earth imdcr small pieces of decaying wood, and later enter the wood. The royal cell is constructed in deca}nng wood or in the earth slightly below the surface of the ground. Termites usually in- fest wood
. Bulletin. Insects; Insect pests; Entomology; Insects; Insect pests; Entomology. 24 INSECTS INJUKIOUS TO FOKESTS. Tcniiites (Leucotermes spp.) also inhabit subterranean passages. Drummond has compared tropical species of termites to earthworms and declared that the}^ are equally as beneficial to man in aerating the soil. After swarming, many of tlie sexed adults excavate shallow cells in the earth imdcr small pieces of decaying wood, and later enter the wood. The royal cell is constructed in deca}nng wood or in the earth slightly below the surface of the ground. Termites usually in- fest wood by entering from the ground underneath, rather than directly on the exposed surface, the latter being usually the habit at the time of the swarm. (Tcrmopsis angusticollis Walk, usually infests wood by gainmg ingress through wounds and abrasions.) None of the sound traplogs with loose bark in the termitarium or in tlie forest was infested except at the point of contact with the groimd, but ter- mites in pairs have been found un- der loose split bark on decaying logs where more moisture was pres- ent. Workers and sohUors are fre- cpiently to be found in the spring in small pieces of decaying wood lying on the ground, and termites probably extend old colonies or es- tal)lish new colonies by means of subterranean tunnels. Durmg the winter the members of the colony are to be found in a labyrinth of undergound passages. These excavations are of var}4ng size and shape, and extend in all (h- rections. Some of the tunnels are partitioned off into separate cham- bers, while others are unpartitioned runways. In the main runways the very young are absent. The partitions consist either of uneaten portions of the wood or small coni- cal piles of moist earth mixed with frass (excreted, finely digested wood) of clay-hke consistency. Sometimes in broad, shallow chan- nels a small irregular mass nearly blocks the channel. The sides of the channels are smooth, and the uneaten masses of wood whic
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