Foraging party and territory size of Heterotermes aureus (Snyder) were investigated on the Santa Rita Experimental Range south of Tucson, Arizona. A comparison of three techniques for delineating territorial extent suggested that the release and recapture of dyed termites was most useful, while agonistic behavior among termites may reflect past as well as current associations. Spatial and temporal patterns of termite attack on baits proved to be unreliable. Data obtained via the release and recapture of dyed termites indicated that most territories encompassed an area of several hundred to thousand square meters. These data sharply contrast with those obtained via spatial and temporal patterns of termite attack, which provided an estimate of 9.2 m² for average territory size. Although agonistic responses were useful for differentiating H. aureus colonies, the lack of this behavior among termites did not necessarily imply a current relationship, as they may have been from subgroups that previously had budded off from each other. These groups may be headed by neotenic reproductives, which were found for the first time under field conditions for this species. Data on foraging party size obtained via a mark-release-recapture technique indicated that many H. aureus colonies contained from ca. 50,000 to 300,000 foragers. However, the validity of these estimates is suspect because several of the assumptions of this technique were not met, i.e., marked individuals did not completely mix in the population, but their numbers tended to be more concentrated near release sites, and colonies may have represented open populations. However, exhaustive trapping data also indicated that colonies may contain tens or hundreds of thousands of foragers. As many as 100,000 foragers in a single colony were removed from fiberboard traps during a 1.5-year period. The average foraging party consisted of 1,456 individuals, of which 8.6% were soldiers.

Tsavo National Park lies in an area of very dry country in South Eastern Kenya. Elephants live there in large numbers and in the early 2 1970's, they had a mean population density of about 1 km^-2 . They have inflicted widespread destruction on the woodlands which originally covered the Park, leading to a complete change in the appearance of the habitat. This caused considerable anxiety about the future of the Park and all its animal populations so research was begun to try to elucidate the root causes of the "elephant problem" and to predict its consequences. The purpose of the present study was to find out what happens to dead wood in Tsavo and to gauge the importance of termites in the ecology of the area. Section 1 gives a brief introduction to the history of Tsavo and sets out the main questions posed when this study was begun. In Section 2 the environment of the study area is described in terms of its topography and geology, the soils and their origins, the floristic and structural composition of the vegetation during this study, the climate and its variations in time and space and the role of fire in shaping the habitat. The species of termites found in the study area are listed in Section 3, followed by brief descriptions of their natural history. Section 4 contains all the information on the turnover of dead wood. The standing crop and rates of wood fall and removal were measured directly at one site and extended by means of an index to measure consumption of dead wood by termites at other sites. Consumption is found to be related to rainfall. The results are discussed in relation to similar studies made elsewhere. A model is constructed relating the consumption of dead wood by termites to rainfall and comparing this with the consumption of grass and browse by large herbivorous mammals. A method is described for measuring the relative importance of different termite species as consumers of dead wood.

Thesis (MSc (Botany and Zoology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / The role of the southern harvester termite, Microhodotermes viator, and several climatic parameters in the distribution of the group-living lizard, Cordylus cataphractus, was investigated. Microhodotermes viator is considered the most important prey item of C. cataphractus and termitophagy as the causative agent in the evolution of group-living in this species. One would therefore expect a high degree of correspondence in the ranges of C. cataphractus and M. viator. As climate will also play a role in the distribution of any species, various climatic variables were investigated to determine their influence on the distribution of C. cataphractus. Species distributions were visualized using the minimum polygon technique and the degree of overlap was determined using standard geographic information systems (GIS) techniques. A total of 53 C. cataphractus localities were investigated for the presence of termites. The climatic limits of the geographical distribution of C. cataphractus were investigated by means of three models, namely Classification Trees, General Discriminant Analysis and Logistic Regression. The range of C. cataphractus was completely included within the range of M. viator Microhodotermes viator was included in the diet of C. cataphractus at 73 % of the localities sampled within the lizard’s range. The current geographical range of C. cataphractus is mainly correlated with two climatic factors, namely the low summer rainfall and high monthly solar radiation. The restricting role of both these factors can be directly linked to the group-living nature of C. cataphractus. If termitophagy were the overarching cause of group-living in C. cataphractus, then one would expect a close relationship between termite density and lizard density and termite density and lizard group size. I investigated these relationships at both a local and regional scale. For the local scale study, 25 quadrats of 25 × 25 m were plotted at a selected site, and for the regional scale study, ten 35 × 35 m quadrats at sites throughout the lizard’s range were used. In each quadrat, a range of variables were recorded, the most important of which were lizard density, lizard group sizes, termite foraging port density, distance to nearest termite foraging ports, vegetation height and vegetation cover. I found that the density of termite foraging ports determines C. cataphractus density. Vegetation height and cover affects crevice selection by C. cataphractus groups, probably because an unobstructed view is necessary to locate termite activity at foraging ports. I also investigated possible differences in the use of termites by different sized groups of C. cataphractus during different times of the year. Faecal samples, collected once a month at Eland’s Bay from small, medium and large groups from January 2005 to December 2005, were analysed for the presence of termite head material. I found that large groups fed on termites to a greater extent than small groups during certain times of the year and there was a general tendency for this phenomenon throughout the year. The results collected in this study indicate that the southern harvester termite, M. viator, plays a central role in the ecology of the group-living lizard, C. cataphractus.