CUTICULAR HYDROCARBONS OF TERMITES OF THE BRITISH-VIRGIN-ISLANDS

A survey of the termites (Isoptera) of 17 islands of the British Virgi n Island (BVI) complex yielded eight taxa belonging to three families. The Kalotermitidae include Neotermes mono (Banks), Cryptotermes brevi s (Walker), Procryptotermes corniceps (Snyder), and an undetermined sp ecies of Incisitermes, likely Incisitermes nr snyderi (Light) or I. in cisus (Silvestri). The only rhinotermitid collected is an undetermined species of Heterotermes (Froggatt). Parvitermes wolcotti (Snyder), Na sutitermes costalis (Holmgren), and N. acajutlae (Holmgren) comprise t he Termitidae. Cuticular hydrocarbon mixtures were characterized for e ach of the taxa. Blends of abundant hydrocarbons are species-specific and can be used to identify a given taxon without the diagnostic caste s, soldiers, or imagoes, although the species of Incisitermes were not separable on the basis of cuticular hydrocarbons.