Termites are regarded as the primary cause of vegetation denudation in semi-arid Nakasongola, Uganda. Despite their damage to ecosystem functioning, there have been little efforts devoted to the description of the termite assemblage structure in the area. The study therefore intended to describe the termite assemblage structure with the intension to develop sustainable termite management strategies. The survey yielded 16 termite species from eight genera, three sub-families and one family. Species from the sub-family Macrotermitinae constituted 69% of the total number of species sampled. Members from the genus Macrotermes were the dominant species and constituted 38% of the total number of species sampled. The assemblage comprised of two feeding groups namely Group II and Group IV, with most of the species belonging to Group II. Most of the species were noted to nest in epigeal and hypogeal nests with a few species nesting in wood. Vegetation cover categories were noted to influence species richness. Highest species richness (14 species) occurred in sparse vegetation category followed by dense category (11) and the least (8 species) occurring on bare ground. The termite assemblage of Nakasongola was dominated by Macrotermes species which largely forage on litter and nest in epigeal mounds.

ABSTRACT. A large bolus of hairs found in the feces of an adult wild chimpanzee in the Budongo Forest, Uganda, was identified as belonging to a chimpanzee below the age of 3 yrs. This represents the second case of infant-eating recorded in the Budongo Forest.Key Words: Chimpanzee; Infant-eating; Electron microscopy; Feces; Hair. OBSERVATIONSOn September 23, 1991 at 10:00, C. BAKUNEETA came across nine adult-sized fecal boluses underneath a Ricinodendron heudelottii tree 800m to the north of the Sonso camp in the Budongo Forest. The basis of the identification of the feces (see MCGREW et al., 1988, Discussion) was as follows.Chimpanzees had been seen feeding under this tree the previous day. The tree had abundant large fruits on which the chimpanzees had been feeding. The feces were fresh when found, having been dropped the same day. The form of the fecal boluses was that of adult chimpanzees, llcm in length and llcm in circumference. The feces were routinely collected in polythene bags for contents analysis.During analysis (by washing and sieving the samples) it was found that one fecal sample contained 6 seeds of Cordia millennii, 2 seeds of Caloncoba crepinia, and in addition a bolus consisting of approximately 500 black hairs together with a small piece of bone and cartilage. No hair was found in the other eight fecal samples. One or two hairs are often found in chimpanzee feces and this is probably the result of grooming activity. Grooming alone would not lead to the presence of 500 hairs in feces. The hairs were collected and dried. A sample was subsequently identified by electron microscopy by H. INAGAKI as belonging to a chimpanzee infant below the age of 3 yrs. Scale patterns of the hairs were wavy (Fig. 1) and the medulla was rich in granules with the appearance of ants' eggs (Fig. 2). Such characteristics corresponded with those of the chimpanzee hairs observed in a previous study (|NAGAKI, 1993). In addition, the hairs are considered to belong to a young animal below the age of 3 yrs since they were relatively fine, and younger chimpanzees have thinner hairs than adults do (INAGAKI, pers. obs.).It would thus appear from this circumstantial evidence that part of an infant chimpanzee may have been eaten by an adult chimpanzee on this occasion. From the absence of hairs in the other feces, it appears that the infant was not eaten by other group members at that time and place.