Polycalic colonies of some mound building termites (Isoptera: Termitidae) in northeastern Australia

Abstract

The relationships of adjacent mounds of five widely distributed species of termites, at two sites south and southwest of Townsville in north Queensland have been examined. It has been shown that four of these species,Amitermes laurensis (Mjoberg),Tumulitermes pastinator (Hill),Drepanotermes rubriceps (Froggatt) andDrepanotermes perniger (Froggatt), are polycalic, with up to eight mounds comprising a single colony. A simple unequivocal method was used. A bait containing a radioactive tracer (131I) was introduced to a mound and the subsequent transfer of this bait to other mounds by termites was monitored with a scintillation detector. The existence of polycalic mounds among some Australian termite colonies alters the interpretation of mound distribution data. In particular, overdispersion of the mounds of some species cannot be interpreted as indicating intraspecific competition if the locations of polycalic mounds are unknown.