352 
Psyche 
Materials and Methods 
[Vol. 93 
Colonies of Incisitermes schwarzi Banks (Kalotermitidae) were 
collected from the Oleta River Mangrove Preserve, North Miami 
Beach, Florida, on four collecting trips carried out between the 
hours of 9 a.m. and 12 noon, at low tide, during the months of 
March, April and May, 1985. (In this species, the annual reproduc- 
tive cycles of different colonies are not synchronized, so that differ- 
ent reproductive stages may be found at any time of the year 
(Luykx, 1986).) Colonies of /. schwarzi were found only in standing 
trunks, not in fallen dead wood. Small, dead mangrove trees 
(Laguncularia racemosa) 3-4 cm in diameter and 1-3 m tall were 
selected and quickly cut into 10-12 cm segments with a chain saw. 
To minimize the possibility of redistribution of the termites during 
the sectioning, the tree was not touched before the first cut was 
made; the first cut was made at ground level, and all subsequent cuts 
were made with the tree held horizontally (to prevent the vibration 
of the saw from shaking termites from one segment to a lower 
segment). Complete sectioning of each tree was accomplished with 
60-90 seconds of the first cut. We estimate we might have killed 
about 5% of the termites in each colony with the saw. 
If a dead tree had termites (about half the ones chosen did), the 
segments were put into numbered plastic bags and taken back to the 
laboratory for opening and analysis. Determination of the sex and 
caste of each individual in each segment was usually carried out 
within one day of collection. We obtained useful data on a total of 9 
complete colonies. 
For the purpose of this analysis, seven castes were distinguished: 
larvae (the first three instars), workers (or pseudergates: later 
instars, with wing buds not readily seen with the naked eye), early- 
and late-stage nymphs (the last two pre-imaginal molts, with elon- 
gated wing pads easily seen with the naked eye), alates (imagos), 
soldiers (small and large), and reproductives (king and queen). In 
the Kalotermitidae, the larvae, workers, nymphs, and alates repres- 
ent a developmental series; the only truly sterile castes are the 
soldiers. 
Males and females occur in all castes, with typically a slight excess 
of males among the soldiers and among the nymphs (Luykx, 1987). 
Except for a slight statistical tendency for soldiers of one sex to be 
associated with non-soldiers of the opposite sex, the sexes within the 
