Colony characteristics and seasonal activity of the Formosan subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in Louis Armstrong Park, New Orleans, Louisiana

Beginning in 1998, multiple mark-recapture studies were conducted inside 12.75-ha Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans, LA, to locate and characterize all detectable colonies of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), established within the park. This is the first attempt to characterize subterranean termite colonies on such a large scale within a defined area. As a result, 13 C. formosanus colonies were identified using characteristics such as mean worker weight (range, 2.96-4.54 mg), foraging territory size (range, 83-1634 m(2)), and wood consumption rate (range, 0.6-5.2 g wood/monitoring station/day). In addition, six Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) colonies were identified throughout the park. A total of 251 of 785 (similar to 32%) trees in the park were infested by C. formosanus colonies. Foraging territories of each colony remained relatively stable over a 4-yr period, with seasonal activity within monitoring stations increasing during the summer and decreasing during winter.