“…Recent developments in molecular methods, such as DNA fi ngerprinting, microsatellite genotyping and analysis of mitochondrial DNA have been successfully used to determine relatedness and inbreeding in many species, including termites (e.g., Kaib et al, 1996;Atkinson and Adams, 1997;Husseneder et al, 1998Husseneder et al, , 1999Husseneder et al, , 2003Husseneder et al, , 2005Thompson and Hebert, 1998;Jenkins et al, 1999;Thorne et al, 1999, Bulmer et al, 2001Grace, 2001a,b, Goodisman andCrozier, 2003;Vargo, 2003a,b;Vargo et al, 2003a, b;DeHeer and Vargo, 2004;Dronnet et al, 2005;Hacker et al, 2005). These methods can be used to detect whether inbreeding avoidance occurs and to infer the mechanisms involved.…”