Inventorying Various Termite Species Attacking Agricultural Crops in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Termite attack causes severe damage in agricultural crops viz., wheat, sugarcane, maize, sorghum, groundnut and fruit trees. An explicit survey was done in various districts of Tamil Nadu, India, for inventorying different termite species inflicting damage in major crops viz., groundnut, sugarcane and maize.The termite species attacking important agricultural crops of Tamil Nadu were morphologically identified as Odontotermesobesus, O. wallonensis, O. redemanni, O. hornii and O. brunneus pertaining to subfamily Macrotermitinae and Nasutitermesbrunneus of subfamily Nasutitermitinae, both falling under the family Termitidae and Neotermesbosei belonging to subfamily Kalotermitinae under family Kalotermitidae.