A COMPARISON of TUNNELING by TWO COLONIES of the FORMOSAN SUBTERRANEAN TERMITE in the FIELD and LABORATORY

Abstract:
Tunneling of the Formosan subterranean termite,Coptotermes formosanusShiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), has been observed in the laboratory with groups of foragers extracted from field colonies or from colonies maintained in the laboratory, but there is little information on tunneling by foragers that are a functional part of a field colony. The objective of this experiment was to observe tunneling by Formosan subterranean termites in the field and to compare the results to tunneling behavior of the same species observed in laboratory arenas.