TERMITES IN THE CANAL ZONE AND PANAMA. 3 



At first it was believed that a dense jungle bordering the canal 

 would be ample protection against a foe. Later, a United States 

 military officer found that his men could go through a dense jungle 

 rapidly and with precision and without making much noise. It was 

 then decided to clear away the jungle and have pastures and planta- 

 tions in its place. The jungle was therefore cut down, allowed to 

 dry. and then burned over. This radically destroyed insect habitats 

 and killed off immense numbers of insects. Those that escaped had 

 to go elsewhere; and as the plantations were started, many species 

 found these good habitats and became more destructive to crops and 

 to structures of man. 



Much more collecting will have to be done before it is possible 

 to do much generalizing on the distribution of termites in the Re- 

 public of Panama. The interior region should yield interesting 

 termites. The termite mound nests described by Dudley and Beau- 

 mount have never been refound. 



Table 1 gives the distribution of only those specimens of termites 

 which were the basis for this bulletin. 



Table 1. — Geographical distribution of termites in the Canal Zone and Panama} 



Family and species. 



Locality. 



Atlantic 

 slope. 



Pacific 

 slope. 



Both 

 slopes. 



Kalotermitida e : 



Kalotermes tabogae Snyder 



Taboga Island, Republic 

 Panama. 



of 





X 



X 



X 

 X 

 X 

 X 



X 

 X 





Crvptotermesthompsonae Snyder. . 







Rhinotermitidae: 



Leucotermes tenuis Hagen 



Ancon, Canal Zone 









Chitre, Republic of Panama. 



















Panama City, Republic of 



Panama. 

 Venado Plantation, Canal Zone 

 Ancon, Canal Zone 













Coptotermes niger Snyder 









Cristobal, Canal Zone 



X 

 X 







Frijoles, Canal Zone 











X 

 X 



X 



X 



X 

 X 



X 





Panama City, Republic 



Panama. 

 Pedro Miguel, Canal Zone.. 



of 



















Termitidae: 



Nasutitennes cornigera Motsehul- 









sky. 



Chitre, Republic of Panama. 

 Frijoles, Canal Zone 













X 









X 

 X 



X 



X 

 X 

 X 



X 



x 





Panama City, Republic of 



Panama. 

 Taboga Island, Republic of 



Panama. 

 Venado Plantation, Canal Zone 

 Ancon , Canal Zone 



















Nasutitennes ephratae Holmgren. 









Matias Hernandez, Republic 

 Panama. 



of 













Nasutitennes columbicus Holm- 



Frijoles, Canal Zone 



X 





gren. 

 Subulitermes zeteki Snyder 



Summit, Canal Zone 



X 



( 2 ) 



X 



X 





Anoplotermes gracilis Snyder 



Alhajuela, Panama 2 (Upj 

 Chagres River Basin). 



>er 







Eutermes debilis Heer 









Taboga Island, Republic 

 Panama. 



of 













1 This table gives only the distribution of the specimens of termites which were the basis for this bulletin. 



2 Central interior 



