Formosan subterranean termite swarming behavior and alate sex-ratio (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-1994

Abstract

The Formosan subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki) was first sighted in the cities of New Orleans and Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 1966. Its distribution in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans 23 years later (1989) and in 1991 and 1992 is reported here using counts of alates from light-traps. Light-trappings revealed a Quarter-wide distribution of the termite. C. formosanus shows an extended pause in flight behavior in the middle of the two-month flight season that is predictable and independent of weather. A colony-level mechanism, namely, developmental inhibition of nymphs by alates, may regulate this intermission in flight. The sex-ratio of light-trapped alates varies over time, but is generally female-biased, especially at the height of the flight season. © 1994 Birkhäuser Verlag.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Insectes Sociaux

First Page

19

Last Page

28

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