ABSTRACT Mark-release-recapture studies were conducted on foraging populations of Heterotermes aureus (Snyder) associated with three structures in Tucson, AZ. Foraging population estimates ranged from 64,913 to 307,284 using the Lincoln Index and 75,501 to 313,251 using the weighted mean model. The maximum distance between monitors ranged from 26 m to 65 m, with minimum total foraging distance ranging between 297 m to 2,427 m. Characterizations of the cuticular hydrocarbons of foraging groups were qualitatively identical. Quantitative similarities within sites and differences among sites suggested that each site was occupied by a single colony during the sampling period. The colony at each site had a proportion of soldiers (0.135, 0.069 and 0.040) that was significantly different from the colonies at each of the other sites. From this study we question the assumption of equal mixing of marked H. aureus foragers throughout the occupied collars around structures.