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[Vol. 89 
were observed to have been used by termite workers in nest construc- 
tion: soil, regurgitated soil, fecal material and saliva. In some cases, 
such as Procornitermes nests, all four were used. Soil and/or re- 
gurgitated soil were always the most common forms of building 
material. 
C. Distribution and Abundance of Nests 
Information on the distribution and abundance of termite 
mounds in each vegetation type was collected from a variety of 
sources and the results are presented in Table 6. Different sampling 
methods can produce different results, depending on the spatial 
distribution of the termite mounds, the size of area sampled and the 
number of areas sampled. It is often difficult to interpret figures on 
termitaria densities because investigators do not report whether all 
termitaria examined contained the mound-building species. Thus, 
the specific methods used to obtain each of the densities reported in 
Table 6 are detailed below. 
Method a: (Coles 1980); method b (Domingos 1980); method 
e (Coles de Negret et al. in prep.). 
Blocks of 50 X 50 meters were selected randomly in each of the 
four vegetation types studied in the Distrito Federal. As some of the 
termite species in the present study were occasionally found in 
mounds built by other species, in these methodologies, all the epi- 
geal mounds in the area were completely excavated. The abundance 
of each species was thus expressed in numbers of nests per hectare. 
In order to exclude sites with only foraging termites, a “nest” was 
defined as a structure in which termite nymphs and larvae were 
present. 
Method d: (Redford in prep.). 
Twelve separate transects, each of 100 by 20 meters were marked 
out in the campo limpo vegetaton of Emas National Park, Goias. 
All the mounds built by Cornitermes cumulans in each transect were 
counted. The figure in Table 6 is the mean calculated from these 
twelve transects (standard deviation = 16.1). 
Method e: (Brandao in prep.). 
Two blocks, 100 by 100 meters were marked out in separate areas 
of campo sujo and two others, of the same size, in areas of cerrado 
vegetation in the Distritb Federal. All the Syntermes dims mounds 
present in each area were counted. As this species frequently con- 
structs small soil domes, apparently for storing food, nests were 
