Hours MST, Tucson, Arizona 
1966] 
Nutting — Paraneotermes 
145 
Figure 7. Relationship between observed time of flight of Paraneotermes 
simplicicornis and time of sunset in Tucson, Arizona, in 1962. Inset scale 
gives approximate light intensity (in lumens per square foot) in the study 
area on a cloudless evening early in the flight season. No flights have ever 
been observed earlier than 15 min. after sunset or at a light intensity 
greater than approximately 0.5 lumen per square foot. 
the ability to survive and to attract a mate from succeeding flight 
periods is an obvious asset. 
Alates often formed tandem pairs on walls and on pavement shortly 
after their arrival at lights. In situations involving several members 
of both sexes, de-alated pairs were soon formed and these generally 
left the lighted area within a half hour. This movement appeared 
to result from the unsuitability of the featureless pavement in the 
vicinity of the lights, and perhaps from a preference for more humid 
areas of soil nearby, for they seemed to be completely indifferent to 
light. 
Light (’37, pp. 431-4) showed that colonizing pairs were able 
to dig into fine, damp soil, and did so in preference to wood, although 
they frequently dug in close to pieces of wood. In the present study, 
pairs isolated in petri dishes (containing 4% agar and a piece of 
decayed wood) readily dug into the agar and formed small cells 
partly in the agar and partly in the wood. These attempts to set 
colonies from primary pairs have been generally unsuccessful. All 
pairs started in dishes of agar and wood died within two months 
