Taxonomic study and an appraisal of the worker and soldier castes proportion for subterranean termites in date palm, of Minab and Saravan

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Abstract

Termites account as important pests in agricultural lands and building structures. Two factors should be considered in the control of termites: faunistic study and investigation of society baselines, such as population size and proportion of soldiers and workers. One approach of the study of termites is the investigation of the foraging group with baiting system. termites are key pests of date palms in Iran. Therefore, faunal study and society structure could be useful in choosing any control strategy. For this purpose, 4 hectares of date palm orchards were chosen in Minab and Saravan. Each orchard was divided into 30 blocks of the size of 500m2 and 6 bait traps were installed in each block. After attacking termites to traps, 30 of the most attacked traps were selected and their termites transferred to in separate plastic bags. In the laboratory, termites were identified and counted according to their names. In Minab, all traps were attacked by Microcerotermes buettikeri and the percentage of captured soldiers and workers varied from 0.00 to 2.38 and 97.62 to 100 respectively. Furthermore, the percentage of soldiers and workers was 0.58% and 99.39% respectively. In Saravan, two species, viz. Amitermes baluchistanicus and Microcerotermes saravanensis., were identified. For Microcerotermes saravanensis., the percentage of captured soldiers and workers varied from 1.45 to 1.77 and 98.22 to 98.54 respectively. The mean of soldiers and workers was calculated as 1.62% and 98.37% respectively. In A. baluchistanicus, the percentage of captured soldiers and workers varied from 0.61 to 6.38 (with the mean of 2.59%) and 93.61 to 99.38 (with the mean of 97.39%) respectively.
 
 

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References

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Iranian Journal of Forest and Range Protection Research
Volume 3, Issue 2
December 2006
Pages 145-158

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History

  • Receive Date: 22 September 2004
  • Revise Date: 11 June 2016
  • Accept Date: 23 August 2005

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