Studies on the Intestinal Protozoa found in the Termites of Japan

Abstract

The protozoa found in the intestines of termites constitute one of the most interesting but less illuminated fields in protozoology. The amount of work done by a number of authors in several different parts of the world is, however, already fairly large, especially valuable papers having appeared in recent years, so that some light has been thrown on the field. Nevertheless, important questions regarding morphology, physiology, systematics, etc., still remain either insufficiently studied or almost untouched. Having myself been occupied for some years past with these interesting organisms, harboured by three species of termites in Japan proper and Formosa, and having made observations which seem to be of some interest, I propose in this paper to describe the chief results of my studies.