Selecting an area with a high termite hazard is deemed essential in locating field sites in order to screen potential termiticides and wood preservatives. Yet, quantifying termite populations in such sites remains imprecise. There are major problems associated with estimating populations of termites in mound colonies (either free-standing or in trees), and these are briefly discussed. In this paper we estimate the population of a mound colony of Coptotermes lacteus as 3.06 x 105. The estimate relates to foragers collected at baits that had been inserted into the mound. The technique adopted, "removal sampling", did not destroy the integrity of the mound nor incur unnecessary expense.

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