In a survey of arboreal termites in different habitats in Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies, three species predominated: Microcerotermes arboreus, Nasutitermes corniger and N. ephratae. M. arboreus accounted for most colonies in a pine plantation, while N. corniger predominated in farmland and mangrove. The two species had roughly equal proportions, overall, at several broadleafforest sites. A fou...

The imago and soldier castes of the Neotropical Termitinae species Genuotermes spinifer Emerson are redescribed. The gut anatomy of the worker is described in detail for the first time, and morphological variations in the soldier are noted and illustrated. The known geographical distribution of Genuotermes spinifer is greatly expanded.

Termite nests are often secondarily inhabited by other termite species ( = inquilines) that cohabit with the host. To understand this association, we studied the trail-following behaviour in two Neotropical species, Constrictotermes cyphergaster (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) and its obligatory inquiline, Inquilinitermes microcerus (Termitidae: Termitinae). Using behavioural experiments and che...

The Sunda region of Southeastern Asia is rich in termite fauna, but termites from this region have been poorly described. In this study, we described eight species from two diverse genera from this region, and from the family Termitidae. We describe Bulbitermes 4 spp. and Nasutitermes 4 spp. from new field collections. Where possible we examine original holotype specimens, and describe the esse...

The New World Anoplotermes group is a common and diverse clade of soil-dwelling soldierless termites that is undergoing needed taxonomic reclassification. Based on robust worker gut morphology centered near the enteric valve, a new genus and its singular species, Compositermes vindai, are described from collections encompassing a massive expanse of tropical America. The enteric valve armature i...

We present a model for the growth of the transportation network inside nests of the social insect subfamily Termitinae (Isoptera, termitidae). These nests consist of large chambers (nodes) connected by tunnels (edges). The model based on the empirical analysis of the real nest networks combined with pruning (edge removal, either random or weighted by betweenness centrality) and a memory effect ...