9423628 ADAMS Social insects are an ecologically and economically important group of organisms. The structure of social insect colonies has long been of interest because workers sacrifice their own reproductive opportunities and help raise the offspring of others. While many studies of colony-level genetic relatedness have been conducted on the social ants, bees and wasps, little is known about the genetic structure of termite colonies. It is important to learn more about termites because, although their social organization is similar to the other social insects, their social structure appears to have evolved independently and other aspects of their biology have apparently produced relatedness relationships unlike those found in other social insects. This research examines the Neotropical termite Nasutitermes corniger, an abundant, destructive and easily collected species that has multiple queens and kings in many of its colonies. Protein and DNA genetic markers will be used to examine: 1) the numbers of reproducing queens and kings per colony; 2) their relatedness; 3) mating patterns, and 4) offspring production per queen and king. Genetic structure will be assessed at both the colony and population levels.
