Psyche 
[March 
1 68 
and Weesner (1953, 1970) have made the only major contributions 
on the general biology of T. tenuirostris , and Nutting (1970) has 
summarized the information on its foraging behavior. 
Materials and Methods 
Seven collections of the termites were made in early September, 
1972, on the Santa Rita Experimental Range, elevation between 945 
and 1220 m, ca. 45 km south of Tucson, Arizona. The area is a 
shrub-invaded desert grassland ecotone, characterized by scattered 
trees, shrubs and cacti. Four groups were taken from under stones 
during one afternoon and three nearly complete foraging groups were 
taken on the soil surface near midnight. Termites and a minimum of 
soil were quickly scooped up with a trowel and placed in a large 
enameled tray. A few hours later the termites were separated from 
soil and debris by sifting and hand-picking. To determine soldier/ 
worker ratios, these castes were counted in each of the two combined 
collections, those from under stones, and those taken on the surface. 
Several hundred of these soldiers and workers were reserved for 
chemical analyses. 
A small foraging group was collected later for behavioral studies. 
They were supplied with fine, dry native vegetation and survived 
reasonably well in the laboratory for about three weeks in a plastic 
petri dish of moist soil. A few minor workers of the myrmicine ant, 
P heul ole desertorum Wheeler, were also collected in the same area 
and maintained for the observation of termite-ant encounters. Al- 
though most species of Pheidole are reportedly seed gatherers rather 
than habitual predators, this was apparently of no consequence in the 
artificial situations described below. 
No encounters between termite foraging groups and small arthro- 
pod predators were seen in the field. A few random encounters were 
staged in the laboratory by introducing individual ants into the dish 
containing the small group of termites. The defensive behavior of 
the soldiers was observed in detail under low magnifications of a 
stereomicroscope, during individual soldier-ant encounters contrived 
as follows: Single living ants were mounted in a natural position on 
glass slides with a small drop of rubber cement. Slide and ant were 
then placed on the soil in the observation chamber with the termites. 
In this distinctly one-sided situation, one or more soldiers invariably 
located and attacked the ant within a few minutes. 
Attacks by five different soldiers were quite literally recorded on 
