Nest Volume and Distance between Nests Do Not Affect Population Size or Species Richness of the Termitophilous Corotocini Fauna

Abstract

Termite nests act as shelters for a wide variety of invertebrates. We studied the Corotocini termitophile fauna (Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae) in nine Nasutitermes corniger nests and nine N. ephratae nests to test the resource size (larger nests should host more social-parasite species than smaller ones) and resource concentration (nests occurring closer to each other should host a greater richness and variety of social parasites) hypotheses. In total, we found 358 Corotocini individuals. Regression analysis did not reveal a relationship between species richness or population size of termitophiles and nest volume. Thus, we rejected the resource size hypotheses as a driver of termitophile diversity. Neither did distance between nests explain the richness of their fauna; thus, the resource concentration hypothesis was also rejected. In conclusion, we suggest that biological aspects, such as dispersal dynamics and species traits likely explain the diversity of termitophiles.