Data for: Marking through moults: An evaluation of visible implant elastomer to permanently mark individuals in a lower termite species

1. Advances in individual marking methods have facilitated detailed studies of animal populations and behaviour as they allow tracking of individuals through time and space. Hemimetabolous insects, representing a wide range of commonly-used model organisms, present a unique challenge to individual marking as they are not only generally small-bodied, but also moult throughout development, meaning that traditional surface marks are not persistent.

2. Visible implant elastomer (VIE) offers a potential solution as small amounts of the inert polymer can be implanted under the skin or cuticle of an animal. VIE has proved useful for individually marking fish, crustaceans and amphibians in both field and laboratory studies, and has recently been successfully trialled in laboratory populations of worms and fly larvae. We trialled VIE in the single-piece nesting termite Zootermopsis angusticollis, a small hemimetabolous insect.

3. We found that there was no effect of VIE on survival and tha...