Division of Entomology, Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla-171 001, Himachal Pradesh (India).
*Present address: National Research Centre for Weed Science, Adhartal, Jabalpur -482 004, Madhya Pradesh (India).
Among the Indian species of mound building termites, Odontotermes wallonensis (Wasmann) is the most common species in south India. The dimorphic workers showed division of labour (polyethism) during different types of jobs, viz, foraging, nest repairs and nest duties. In a nest, the proportions of large workers, small workers and soldiers were about 20, 18 and 2 per cent, respectively. Large workers predominated (74%) over small workers (23%) in foraging activities. Also, large workers predominated in nest repairs and nest duties. Different job situations also attracted various percentage of soldiers. During mound repairs, the soldiers were in large numbers in comparison to foraging and nest duties. The queen attending and nest repair sites were chiefly attended by small workers which composed about 95 and 53 per cent of the population, respectively.
