Neoteny in Reticulitermes flavipes

Neoteny in the eastern subterrranean termite is well documented from both laboratory and field studies.  A total of 2,113 neotenics were collected from three separate field populations and sex ratio's determined.  These collections provided three phenotypes termed regular, black-headed and black neotenics that had never been described in the literature. The regular neotenics (n=1,676) provided a female biased sex ratio while the the black-headed neotenics (n=481) had a male biased sex ratio and the black neotenics (n=56) were exclusively male. Eight laboratory colonies ranging in age from 8-13 years old were censused and two contained neotenics. The sex ratio's from the laboratory cultures were female biased for the regular neotenics (n=52) and neutral for the black-headed neotenics (n=11).  The data on neoteny in Reticulitermes flavipes indicates a flexible ontogeny and will be discussed relative to recent models of Rhinotermitid colony development.