Feeding Preferences by Reticulitermes tibialis (Blattodea: Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) between Four Tallgrass Prairie Grasses

Abstract

Termite researchers on The Nature Conservancy's Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in northeast Oklahoma have long been interested about nutritional resources used by subterranean termites inhabiting the Preserve. In 12-week choice and no-choice laboratory feeding tests, subterranean termites were fed a mixture of stems-and-leaves, or roots only, of four predominant grasses growing on the Preserve: Indiangrass – Sorghastrum nutans L; Switchgrass – Panicum vigatum L; Big Bluestem – Andropogan gerardii Vitman; and Little Bluestem – Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.). Termites consumed all of these food choices but preferred roots compared with stems and leaves. In choice feeding tests, termites preferred Switchgrass roots. In no-choice feeding tests, roots of Indiangrass and Big Bluestem were consumed in greatest amounts. All four grasses were palatable to Reticulitermes tibialis, a subterranean termite common throughout the Preserve.