Intensive survey for IARI campus & Delhi, NCR

During last seven years (2009-2016), four genera were recorded in IARI campus (agricultural lands and buildings). All the species collected from surveyed-study-sites agricultural fields are under family Termitidae. Odontotermes and Microtermes are the dominant genera both in the rabi and kharif seasons. Heterotermes indicola and Coptotermes heimi are found to be the dominant pests indoor (attacking the farm buildings - offices, museum, libraries, sale-counter, and many divisional buildings of IARI.

In Delhi region, Thakur (2007: Ind J Forestry, 30(4): 505-508) reported fourteen termite species. Till-date, we identified seven more species viz., Microtermes mycophagus, M. obesi, Odontotermes obesus, O. bellahunisensis, O. bhagwatii, O. redemanni, and H. indicola; of which later four were not reported by previous workers. Thus termite fauna in Delhi comprises eighteen species under three families (i.e. Kalotermitidae, Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae) and nine genera till date. The identification of H. indicola from Delhi region is of particular importance, especially because it is a major structural pest and control strategies may be taken with appropriate care. Reporting first time a commonly prevalent termite H. indicola is certainly a significant finding relevant to the urban-pest-management sector. It is probable that several more undescribed and new termite species remain to be discovered in Delhi region considering the centralized location, diversity of habitat, and the zoogeographical extent of the our survey.

Termite diversity in different crops and cropping patterns in Delhi (IARI)

Point-survey
Field surveys conducted covering places like Roorkee, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Muzzaffarnagar, Mathura and  Varanasi (UP), Udaipur, Kota, Jaipur (Rajsthan), Bilaspur and Raipur (Chattisgarh), Jammu and Reasi (J&K), Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, Khurda, Ganjam, Bhubaneswar & Puri (Odisha), Bangaluru (Karnataka), Jalpaiguri (WB), Goa, Patiala and Jalandhar (Punjab), Nagpur (Maharastra), Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Pondichery etc.

Termite infestation is documented in various Museums, National Parks and Sanctuaries and Botanical gardens of India viz., Indian Museum, Kolkata and Eco-park (WB), Ahar National Museum, Udaipur and Gulab-bagh (Rajasthan), Panipat District Museum (Haryana), Bhitarkanika National Park, Nandankanan Botanical Garden (Odisha), Lanbagh Botanical Garden (Karnataka), and IARI Museums etc.