178 
Psyche 
[September 
verde logs, and on two occasions in the same wood with Pterotermes. 
Paraneotermes simplicicornis (Banks) is the only other kalotermitid 
which is known to attack the palo verde. This unusual termite, 
which is essentially subterranean, generally infests the roots and 
stumps of dead trees in the desert. Both of these termites probably 
begin their attacks before wood has dried to the point where it is 
most favorable for Pterotermes. They are much more common in 
the skeletons of the saguaro cactus, where they appear shortly after 
the flesh has rotted and fallen off. They have never been found in 
saguaros inhabited by Pterotermes. 
Heterotermes aureus (Snyder) is one of the most common sub- 
terranean termites in the Sonoran Desert region of southern Arizona. 
It commonly works in dead saguaros, particularly during periods of 
higher soil moisture following the winter and summer rains. On 
the north slopes of the Tucson Mts. its abandoned galleries were 
obvious in the saguaro stump containing Pterotermes. The only 
other insects commonly found in wood attacked by Pterotermes are 
buprestid and cerambycid larvae which are often very numerous in 
palo verde. 
REFERENCES CITED 
Banks, N., and T. E. Snyder. 
1920. A revision of the nearctic termites (Banks) with notes on bi- 
ology and geographic distribution (Snyder). U. S. Nat. Mus. 
Bull. No. 108, 228 pp. 
Collins, Margaret S. 
1966. Personal Communication. 
Collins, Margaret, and A. Glenn Richards. 
1966. Studies on water relations in North American termites. II. 
Water loss and cuticular structure in eastern species of Family 
Kalotermitidae (Isoptera). Ecology, in press. 
Emerson, Alfred E. 
1955. Geographical origins and dispersions of termite genera. Fieldi- 
ana: Zoology, 37: pp. 473-475. 
Hagen, H. A. 
1858. Monographic der Termiten. Part 2. Linn. Entomol., 12: pp. 77- 
78. 
Krishna, Kumar. 
1961. A generic revision and phylogenetic study of the family Kalo- 
termitidae (Isoptera). Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 122: 303- 
408. 
Light, S. F. 
1929. New termite records for Lower California. Pan-Pacific Ent., 6 : 
pp. 67, 69-70. 
1933. Termites of western Mexico. Univ. Calif. Publ. Ent., 6: pp. 85- 
86 . 
