Underground Nests and Foraging Activity of Invasive Conehead Termites (<i>Nasutitermes corniger</i>; Blattodea: Termitidae).

ABSTRACT: Across their wide geographic range (Neotropics, and as invasives in New Guinea and Florida), Nasutitermes corniger (conehead termites) live primarily above the ground surface. They build arboreal nests and foraging tunnels, or epigeal nests and tunnels on the ground surface. There are brief reports of below-ground portions of N. corniger nests and foraging tunnels as rare occurrences of structures extending underground. The entirely and partially underground nests and foraging tunnels described in this paper are distinct and novel from previous observations. They are based on multiple discoveries in areas of Broward County, Florida, where invasive conehead termite activity below ground is common. This paper expands understanding of habitat options for this ecologically agile,

SUBMITTER: Thorne BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12733394 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature