Termites are important ecosystem engineers in the tropics but certain termite species cause damage to economically important crops. In Africa, termites cause >50% damage in maize. This study evaluated the effect of intercropping maize with soybean, common beans and sorghum on the level of termite damage, abundance of termite species and functional groups in Machakos County, Kenya during two cropping seasons. In both seasons, Macrotermes herus, M. subhyalinus, Coptotermes formosanus, Odontotermes badius, O. longignathus and Cubitermes ugandesis were recorded. There was a low percentage of lodged plants in maize-sorghum intercrop which also had low population densities of M. herus and O. badius in both seasons. There was no difference in the number of C. formosanus in both seasons. The lowest number of fungus-cultivators was in the maize-sorghum intercrop while soil feeders occurred in low populations. Intercropping maize and sorghum can be further explored alongside other integrated termite management techniques. The observed low populations of soil feeders necessitate adoption of farming practices that conserve them in order to improve crop productivity.

白蚁是热带地区重要的生态系统工程师，但某些白蚁物种会对具有重要经济意义的作物造成损害。在非洲，白蚁对玉米造成超过 50% 的损害。本研究评估了玉米与大豆、普通豆类和高粱在两个作物季节期间对肯尼亚马查科斯县白蚁危害程度、白蚁种类和功能群的丰度的影响。在这两个季节中，都记录了大白蚁、M. subhyalinus、Coptotermes formosanus、Odontotermes badius、O. longignathus和Cubitermes ugandesis。玉米 - 高粱间作的滞留植物比例较低，M. herus和O. badius 的种群密度也较低在两个季节。C. formosanus两个季节的数量没有差异。最低数量的真菌栽培者出现在玉米-高粱间作中，而土壤饲养者出现在低种群中。间作玉米和高粱可以与其他综合白蚁管理技术一起进一步探索。观察到的土壤饲养者数量较少，因此有必要采用保护它们的耕作方法，以提高作物生产力。