Termite colony foundation precedes the incipient stage, when the first oviposition cycle takes place, followed by months of reproductive inactivity. The royal couple is supposed to cease oviposition during this period, investing energy to care for the first brood. When a suitable number of alloparents differentiate, egg-laying resumes. Here we followed oviposition dynamics, embryo development and queen/king body changes in laboratory colonies of the major pest species Coptotermes gestroi (Rhinotermitidae) and Cryptotermes brevis (Kalotermitidae) during 9 months. We show that they differ in these oviposition dynamics, as C. gestroi queens displayed an uninterrupted oviposition whereas C. brevis laid a cohort of eggs and ceased oviposition during a 3-month period (lag phase). C. gestroi oviposition dynamic was remarkable and suggests that occurrence of progeny was not a limiting factor, thus queens and kings were able to concomitantly invest energy in reproduction and parental care. These findings contrast those reported for rhinotermitids from temperate areas, and we discuss the likely reasons for such a condition, including endogenous rhythms, avoidance of a high mortality rate of the first progeny and adaptation to the weather conditions of the Neotropical region. Oviposition dynamic in C. brevis resembled those of several termite species, in which the royal couple cease reproduction to care for the first brood. Rearing conditions did not influence oviposition dynamics (egg-laying cycle followed by a lag phase), thus our results on the oviposition of C. gestroi and C. brevis correspond to different reproductive strategies post-foundation adopted by these pest species.

Four cultivars of maize, Zea mays L. viz., CM 600, Basilocal, CM 500 and Kisan were examined for their relative resistance to the maize stem borer, chilo partellus (Swinhoe) in relation to nutrition. Freshly hatched larvae of C. partellus were allowed to grow on the leaf whorls of the cultivars in the laboratory at 27 ±.2°C and 70–90% r.h. The rate of growth, food consumption and its utilization, egg laying and egg hatchability were studied. The insects showed better growth when fed CM 600 or Basilocal maize; this was shown by a higher percentage pupation (56.8 and 54.8, respectively on CM 600 and Basilocal) as compared to (24.4 and 5.6 respectively) on CM 500 and Kisan. Pupal weights were higher (40.2, 45.2, 34.4 and 32.8 mg for male pupae and 57.6, 63.7, 51.8 and 35.8 mg for female pupae), when larvae were reared on CM 600, Basilocal, CM 500 and Kisan, respectively. The growth index decreased from 1.65 on CM 600 and 1.49 on Basilocal to 0.40 on CM 500 and 0.09 on Kisan. A better consumption and utilization of the cultivars CM 600 and Basilocal was shown as also expressed by the higher weights attained by larvae grown on these two than on CM 500 and Kisan. Growth rate slowed down to 0.068 on CM 500 from 0.161 on CM 600 maize. A similar trend was observed in egg-laying and hatchability of eggs. Number of eggs laid per female decreased from 290 on CM 600 reared C. partellus to 157 on Kisan reared insects and none of the eggs laid by the latter could hatch. The degree of resistance of the cultivars to C. partellus on the basis of nutritional factors in a decreasing order is: Kisan > CM 500 > Basilocal > CM 600.