DELINEATION OF HETEROTERMES-AUREUS (ISOPTERA, RHINOTERMITIDAE) FORAGING TERRITORIES IN A SONORAN DESERT GRASSLAND

The foraging territory size of Heterotermes aureus (Snyder) was investigated on the Santa Rita Experimental Range south of Tucson, Ariz. A comparison of three techniques for delineating territorial boundaries suggested that the release and recapture of dyed termites and agonistic behavior among termites were the most reliable techniques, whereas spatial and temporal patterns of termite attack on baits were unreliable for determining boundaries. Data obtained with the first two techniques indicated that many territories encompassed an area of several hundred to a few thousand square meters. These data contrasted sharply with those obtained from spatial and temporal patterns of termite attack, which provided an estimate of 13.9 m 2 for average territory size. © 1990 Entomological Society of America.