148 
Psyche 
[June 
conjunction with field observations on 78 flights of the desert damp- 
wood termite, Paraneotermes simplicicornis , in southern Arizona. Its 
flight behavior is characterized by a large number of generally small 
flights occurring over a prolonged season and over a rather wide 
range of environmental conditions. Alates appear in the colonies 
about three weeks in advance of the flight season. As many as 31 
flights have been observed in one season which may extend from late 
May into early September. Flights begin when weekly mean tem- 
peratures remain consistently above 23 °C. They are staged during 
evening twilight and begin at a mean temperature of 27.6°C. (range, 
23.4 — 32) and a mean relative humidity of 60.8% (range, 36 — 
100). Mean saturation deficit at the start of 29 flights in one season 
measured 12.8 mm. Hg and ranged between 2.1 and 20.7 mm. Rec- 
ords clearly indicate that this termite does not begin swarming, nor 
stage its daily flights, in response to rainfall. Since the summer 
rains occur in the form of sporadic thunderstorms, the mean daily 
evaporation rate remains high: 0.36 inches (0.10 to 0.51) for the 
flight days in 1962. The sequence of post-flight behavior is described 
and bears certain similarities to that of subterranean termites. 
References Cited 
Asplund, Kenneth K. 
1964. Seasonal variation in the diet of Urosaurus ornatus in a riparian 
community. Herpetologica, 20:91-94. 
Bates, M. 
1949. The Natural History of Mosquitoes. Macmillan Co., New York, 
pp. 54-55. 
CUTRIGHT, C. R. 
1927. Notes on the computing of mean temperatures for biological use. 
Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer., 20:255-261. 
Harvey, P. A. 
1934- The distribution and biology of the common dry-wood termite, 
Kalotermes minor. II. Life history of Kalotermes minor, p. 221. 
In Kofoid, C. A., et al. [eds.] Termites and Termite Control, 
2nd ed., Univ. Calif. Press, Berkeley. 
Herfs, A. 
1951. Der Schwarmflug von Reticulitermes lucifugus Rossi. Zeitschr. 
Angew. Ent., 3 3:69-77. 
Kalshoven, L. G. E. 
1930. (Bionomics of Kalotermes tectonae Damm. as a base for its con- 
trol.) Mededeel. Inst, plantenziekt., Buitenzorg, 76:1-154. 
Kannowski, Paul B. 
1959. The flight activities and colony-founding behavior of bog ants 
in southeastern Michigan. Insectes Sociaux, 6: 115-162. 
