A survey of the termite fauna (Isoptera) of an eucalypt plantation in Central Brazil

Abstract

The termite fauna of a plantation of Eucaliptus urophylla S.T. Blake (Myrtales: Mytaceae) in Buritis, Minas Gerais, was manually sampled in 12 transects. The assemblage contained 28 species belonging to Termitidae and Rhinotermitidae. This assemblage corresponds to a subset of the native fauna of the cerrado previously present in this region. Compared to the original native fauna, it has a lower species richness, a much lower proportion of soil-feeders and a higher proportion of litter-feeders. A total of 1600 recently cut trees were examined and only three (0.2%) had damage to the heartwood caused by Coptotermes sp. Despite the presence of a diverse termite fauna including several putative pest species, termites are not considered a significant problem to eucalypt plantations in this region.