Effects of mound occupation by the meat ant Iridomyrmex sanguineus (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) on the termite Amitermes laurensis (Isoptera : Termitidae) in an Australian woodland

Mounds of the termite Amitermes laurensis in northern Queensland, Australia, are frequently invaded and occupied by the meat ant Iridomyrmex sanguineus, but their interactions remain unclear. In 1999, 68 A. laurensis mounds that were mapped and examined for the presence of the meat ants in 1998 were studied by destructive sampling, and the occupancy percentages of the termites were compared during the 2 years of meat ant occupation. The results indicate that the occupancy percentages of the termites in the intact mounds (79%) are significantly different from those in the mounds that were occupied by the meat ants in 1998 (58%), 1999 (42%), or both (20%). Although the mean vales showed apparent differences, no significant difference was observed in the occupancy percentages among the latter three cases. Our results suggest that the meat ants arc not lethal invaders of the termite mounds and that the recovery of the termite populations occurs after the meat ants abandon the mounds.