Foraging populations and territories of a mound-building subterranean termite, Microtermes pakistanicus (Isoptera : Macrotermitinae)

摘要

A study was conducted in a university campus setting to characterize foraging populations and territories of a mound-building higher subterranean termite, Microtermes pakistanicus Ahmad. The triple-mark recapture technique revealed that the foraging populations of four Microtermes pakistanicus colonies (A, B, C and D) were (1.25 +/- 0.03) x 10(5), (4.47 +/- 0.13) x 10(5), (1.07 +/- 0.04) x 10(5) and (5.59 +/- 0.17) x 10(5), respectively. Termite foragers occupied an area of 30.5 - 54.2 m(2), while foraging biomasses ranged between 0.33 - 1.99 kg. The maximum foraging distance was registered at 10.5 m. Mean wood consumption rate per month ranged between 397.4 - 795.2 g month(-1).