1966] 
Nutting — Paraneotermes 
147 
when no flights took place. There are no other environmental factors 
which might obviously have prevented flights on these days. The 
most reasonable explanation which can be advanced at present — 
and which would also explain the long flight season characteristic of 
many termites — is a progressive production of alates. Evidence from 
the two subcolonies taken in 1961 does not support this idea, for 
large numbers of alates were produced within a short time, just 
prior to the flight season. It is still possible, however, that the pre- 
alates develop deep within the colony and migrate to the more super- 
ficial out posts to complete their development as the season progresses. 
Herfs (’51) found that Reticulitennes Lucifugus (Rossi) (maintained 
in 13 large groups under constant conditions) produced alates over 
a period varying from 0.25 to 3.5 months. 
During their flight season, and not always at the time of flight, 
one or more castes of the following genera in Arizona have been 
noticed at emergence (“observation”?) holes: Incisitermes , Zooter- 
mopsisj, Heterotermes , Amitermes and Gnathamitermes. This habit, 
which has probably been noted by many other observers, has led to 
the suspicion that termites may not be so much the “dwellers in 
darkness” as generally believed. It further suggests that many ter- 
mites may thus have considerable, and perhaps rather continuous, 
information on the photoperiod and other external environmental 
factors, either through actual openings to the outside or through the 
walls of superficial galleries in wood or soil. The behavior of alates, 
or of an entire colony, might then be readily imagined to be adjusted 
to the approximate frequency of one or more points in the daily 
photoperiod. Data on the flight behavior of Paraneotermes strongly 
suggest that the alates are initially stimulated by high temperatures, 
but that the daily flights may be finally triggered in response to a 
definite level of diminishing light intensity on otherwise favorable 
evenings. The flights of many termites and of several other insects 
have been shown to be closely correlated with dusk or to decreased 
light intensity ( e.g ., Myers, ’52; Bates, ’49). 
Field studies in progress on a variety of other termites in Arizona 
and Mexico are aimed at providing a basis for the comparative study 
of termite flight behavior. Thus far, limited experience has shown 
that it may be possible to resolve certain behavioral problems by the 
manipulation of captive colonies in the laboratory. It is anticipated 
that a balanced combination of field and laboratory studies may 
eventually permit the forecasting of both flight seasons and daily 
flight periods of the species within limited geographic areas. 
Summary. — Weather data have been collected and studied in 
