1982] 
Negret & Redford — Termite Species 
101 
more wood-eating species. The predominance of grass-eating ter- 
mites is understandable because of the large biomass and rapid 
turnover of their food source. 
Of the 54 species of termites in the cerrado vegetation of the 
Distrito Federal (excluding gallery forests) only nine mound- 
building species were examined in this study. Many of the other 
species do not build mounds and are found instead living within 
mounds built by one of these nine species. It is probable that many 
of these non-mound-building species will be found to be geophagous 
or humivorous, feeding in or near the mounds they inhabit. 
Discussion 
The cerado vegetation of the Distrito Federal, Brazil has a diverse 
termite fauna with at least 54 species present (excluding those found 
in gallery forest vegetation) (Coles 1980). Estimates of the termite 
density in savanna areas in other continents are much lower with 
only 19 species in the Sahel, Senegal, 19 in northern Guinea, Nige- 
ria, 23 in southern Guinea, Nigeria and 36 in savannas of the Ivory 
Coast (Wood and Sands 1978). 
A survey by Coles (1980) indicated that most cerrado species were 
present in all the physionomic vegetation types; however, in terms of 
abundance, certain species were more common in one particular 
type of vegetation. This is clearly illustrated by the data in Table 6. 
Nests of Nasutitennes sp., Velocitermes paucipilis, Cortaritermes 
si/vestri, Syntermes dirus and Cornitermes cumulans were all more 
abundant in the open vegetation types (campo limpo and campo 
sujo). Grigiotermes metoecus and Armitermes euamignathus were 
equally common in all types while Procornitermes araujoi was more 
common in woodland areas. Orthognathotermes gibberorum had 
an irregular distribution being less common in the cerrado sensu strictu 
of the Distrito Federal but more common in the campo limpo of 
Emas Park. These preferences for particular vegetation types can, to 
some extent, be related to the feeding habits of each species (Table 
7); however, abundance of a species is also influenced by other 
species present. In some areas conditions were particularly favorable 
for one species, an example of which was found in Emas National 
Park where populations of Cornitermes cumulans were exception- 
ally high, with other species much less common. 
The variation in abundance of a species in different regions can be 
