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[Vol. 89 
chemical defense (see ‘nasus length’ Table 2 as one indicator of the 
extent to which chemicals are used in defense). Armitermes stands 
in an intermediate position between the principally chemical and the 
principally mandibulate type soldiers, with a long nasus and mandi- 
bles which can pierce human skin but not draw blood. Grigiotermes 
is very interesting in that it has no soldiers; the workers however 
produce a large drop of liquid on either side of the abdomen when 
disturbed, which may serve a defensive purpose. 
Termites are probably the dominant form of animal life in many 
areas of central Brazil, both in number of species and biomass. They 
play major roles in herbivory, decomposition, soil formation and 
alteration, and as an important source of food for other animals. 
Ants are probably the major predators of termites, but in central 
Brazil mammals are common and important predators as well. The 
aspects of termite biology reported in this study are all important in 
defense by termites against mammalian predators. The small size of 
termites, the type of soldier defense and the proportion of soldiers to 
workers are all factors influencing feeding by mammals once the 
termite mound has been opened. The shape, size and hardness of a 
mound influence the ways in which a mammalian predator can 
break into a nest while the distribution and abundance of nests are a 
measure of the spatial availability of termites as a food source. 
Lastly, the feeding habits of termites are important in determining 
when, and if, termites are available outside of the mound. Food 
preference tests with large and small mammalian predators and 
observation of wild giant anteaters (Redford in prep.) have shown 
that all of these aspects of termite biology interact in determining 
which species of termites are preferred as food and how available 
they actually are to mammalian predators. 
Acknowledgements 
Helen Coles de Negret would like to thank the Trustees of the 
Royal Society Leverhulme Scholarships and the Science Research 
Council-Shell Research CASE award for financing this research. 
The data form part of a Ph.D. thesis submitted to Southampton 
University in 1980 under the supervision of Dr. P. E. Howse. 
Kent Redford would like to thank the National Geographic 
Society, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Organization of 
American States and Sigma XI for help in financing this research. 
