Colony structure of Reticulitermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in northwest Arkansas

Termites, as social insects, have a complicated life cycle that is difficult to study with traditional research methods. A termite colony can consist of a simple family (one male and one female), an extended family (multiple males and/or multiple females) or a mixed family (unrelated reproductives). While this is near impossible to determine from collecting and censusing colonies in the field, microsatellite DNA genotyping methods have been previously developed and applied to termites along the east coast. In this study, we apply these methods to three species of Reticulitermes from three forested sites in northwest Arkansas. In our limited sampling, we found 22% of Reticulitermes in northwest Arkansas were simple families, 72% were extended families, and 6% were mixed families. This study observed the first R. hageni mixed family as well as the first observation of a single termite colony containing multiple mtDNA haplotypes. Further sampling is required to strengthen these observations into general trends for family structure of Reticulitermes in northwest Arkansas.