In Ethiopia, particularly in the Central Rift Valley (CRV) where high density of epigeal termite mounds is found, little systematic studies were done to know the termite fauna. Hence, the current study was conducted in three districts of East Shawa Zone of Oromia Regional State to know termite species composition in the CRV of Ethiopia from August to November 2013. Termites were sampled from different land-use types: protected lands, rangelands, and farmlands using the standardized belt transect and maize stalk baiting. Termites were also collected randomly from different places and habitats. The collected samples belonged to seven genera: Macrotermes, Odontotermes, Microtermes, Amitermes, Microcerotermes, Angulitermes, and Trinervitermes. Angulitermes and Trinervitermes were very rare and recorded only from protected lands. Protected lands housed all genera of the collected termites. Microcerotermes were the most abundant in protected lands, Macrotermes in rangelands, and Microtermes in farmlands. The results showed that land-use type determine termite abundance and diversity. The baiting method captured all genera of the collected termites, while, the standardized belt transect method and random collection methods captured 43% and 71% of the termite genera, respectively and this indicated that maize stalk baiting was highly suitable for sampling wood-based food feeders. The result of this survey study can form a baseline for designing a national termite species inventory.
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