Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 2:59 PM
1101

Subterranean termites (Reticulitermes spp.): Colony abundance and species composition in a north Florida longleaf pine orchard

J. E. Eger, jeeger@dow.com, Dow AgroSciences, 2606 S. Dundee St, Tampa, FL, Edward L. Vargo, ed_vargo@ncsu.edu, North Carolina State University, Department of Entomology, Raleigh, NC, Thomas Juba, jubat@missouri.edu, University of Missouri, Biochemistry Department, Rm. 117, Schweitzer Hall, Columbia, MO, and Frank Wessels, fjwessels@gmail.com, University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology, 2735 SW 35th Place #1405, Gainesville, FL.

Sentricon® stations provided with ESP™ monitoring devices were installed 1.5 m apart in a 20 x 20 station grid (30.5 x 30.5 m). The grid was located in a 7 year old longleaf pine orchard near Branford, FL. Termites were sampled monthly over one year. Microsatellite markers were used to determine the number of colonies present and the foraging range for colonies. Three termite species were present, Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) R. hageni Banks and R. virginicus (Banks). Over 100 colonies were detected in this relatively small area and >95% of these were R. hageni Banks. Foraging ranges within this grid were small with a maximum of about 6.5 m for R. hageni and 8.6 m for R. flavipes. Reticulitermes virginicus occupied a single monitoring station.


Species 1: Isoptera Rhinotermitidae Reticulitermes flavipes (eastern subterranean termite)
Species 2: Isoptera Rhinotermitidae Reticulitermes hageni (light subterranean termite)
Species 3: Isoptera Rhinotermitidae Reticulitermes virginicus (dark subterranean termite)