termite colony development and ecology

Kansas IPM EducationOctober 2005

Termite Colony Termite Colony Development and EcologyDevelopment and Ecology

Dr. Richard HousemanDr. Richard Houseman

Assistant Professor of EntomologyAssistant Professor of EntomologyDivision of Plant SciencesDivision of Plant Sciences

University of MissouriUniversity of Missouri


Successful Termite Treatments

• Know something about:– Termite Colonies

• Distribution• Capabilities

– Control Tactics• Methods

– Benefits and Limitations


Termite Colonies

• Colony development– Simple families grow to become large

networks.• 30-50 first year• 387 ± 226 by second year (55 lab colonies)• 50,000 to >1,000,000 individuals at maturity

– Slow growth rate while young– Rarity of primary queens when large


Termite Colonies

• Become large, interconnected networks– Population centers of various sizes

• Located in/around food resources

– Connected by a system of ‘roads’• Varying levels of activity in different galleries

• Colony has a home range• Home ranges have been estimated using mark-

release methods


Termite Colonies

• Area• R.flavipes: 18m² (4x4m) to 2400m² (50x50m)

• R.hageni: 2m² (1x2m) to 20m² (4x5m)

• R.virginicus: 1m² (1x1m) to 8m² (3x3m)

• Linear distances• R.flavipes: 8m to 79m• R.hageni: 12m• R.virginicus: 5m


Termite Colonies

• In Florida • Ranged from <30m² to 230m²• Most less than 30m² (5x6m)

• How many colonies around a typical home?


Termite Colonies

• Colonies are ‘mobile’ within home range– Headquarters not stationary– Explore, occupy, and then leave resources – Distribution changes over time

• Changes in resource, environment

– Risk of certain population centers becoming isolated


Budding

• Division of Existing Nest• Gradual and passive • Sudden and accidental

• Formation of secondary reproductives• Two weeks to four months’ time• Unique reproductive stage for Reticulitermes


Budding

• Secondary reproductives– Lower individual fecundity than primaries

• Egg production correlated with abdomen size

– Higher numbers • 100’s or 1000’s clustered in nest with sex ratio

heavily skewed toward females.

– Greater total reproductive output


Termite Populations

• Multiple colonies interacting• Encounter one another in home ranges• Antagonistic responses

• Between species• Between colonies of the same species• Between established and incipient colonies

• High aggression seems absent/rare for R.flavipes colonies


Changes in Home Range

• Variation seasonally– Three dimensional

• Up-down (Houseman and Gold 2000)

• Side-to-side (Houseman and Gold 2002)

– Influenced by • Food Resources• Soil temperature • moisture


Mean depth of R. flavipes during each month of the year in

College Station, TX. (Houseman 2000)

M A M J J A S O N D J F

30

25

20

15

10

5

0


Relationship between R. flavipes mean depth and mean maximum soil temperature during each month of the year. (Houseman 2000)

Soil Temperature

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

cm


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1f x x x x x x x x x x h

o o o o o o2 x x f x x x x x x x h h

3 x x f f x x h x x h x x

o o o o o o4 x x f f f x h x x x x x

5 x x f f x x h h x h h h

o o o o o o6 x x x h h h x f h h h x

7 x x x x x h h f h h h x

o o o o o o8 x x x x h h h f R R h h

9 x x x x R h h f x x f h

o o o o o o10 x x x x x x x x f f f h

11 f x x x x x x x f x h h

o o o o o o12 x x x x x x x f x f x f

R.hageni

R.flavipes


The cumulative number of monitoring stations located and the number of stations occupied by R. hageni at successive sampling intervals.

Date

Jan Jul Jan Jul Jan Jul Jan

Num

ber

of S

tati

ons

0

10

20

30

40


The cumulative number of monitoring stations located and the number of stations occupied by R. flavipes at successive sampling intervals.

Date


Num

ber

of S

tati

ons

0

5

10

15

20

25

30


2.5 m 28 July 1997

x x x x x x x x x x x x

o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



2.5 m 3 November 1997


o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



2.5 m 11 February 1998


o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



2.5 m 19 May 1998


o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



2.5 m 28 July 1998


o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



o o o o o o



2.5 m

27 October 1998

x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x


2.5 m

2 February 1999 x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x


2.5 m

25 May 1999 x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o o o o o o x x x x x x x x x x x x


Seasonal changes in the spatial pattern of monitoring stations occupied by R. hageni and R. flavipes as measured by the lacunarity index with a moving box size of four.

Date


Lac

unar

ity

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

R.hageni R.flavipes


Thank you. Questions or Comments?

termite colony development and ecology

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