Implications for comparability of laboratory experiments revealed in studies on the effects of population density on the vigour in groups of Coptotermes lacteus (Frogatt) and Nasutitermes exitiosus(Hill) (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae, Termitidae)
IRG/WP 1194
M Lenz, R A Barrett, E R Williams
The vigour - survival. and wood consumption - of groups of Coptotermes lacteus and Nasutitermes exitiosus was measured when termites were kept at different population densities (g termites/mL) by changing group size and/or volume of the holding container. A characteristic pattern emerges for subterranean-like termite species. At low population densities (<0.01 g/mL) performance of termites improves with an increase in group size; at higher densities it tends to decline. The impact of altering group size and container volume on termite vigour is most pronounced at low population densities; at higher population densities, performance tends to be more stable but declines markedly when termites become overcrowded. In most jar-type experiments on termites, especially those conducted in Europe and the U.S.A., small groups of termites are housed in disproportionately large jars, resulting in very low, sub-optimal population densities. Suggestions are made for improvement in experimental design that would lead to an enhancement of the comparability of results from different laboratories.