scholarly journals A Reproductives Excluder for Subterranean Termites in Laboratory Experiments

2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (6) ◽  
pp. 2882-2887
Author(s):  
Sang-Bin Lee ◽  
Thomas Chouvenc ◽  
Nan-Yao Su
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Coptotermes Formosanus ◽  
Subterranean Termites ◽  
Head Width ◽  
Large Colony ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Head Height ◽  
Incipient Colonies

Abstract As a social insect, termites have different castes and division of labor in a colony. Investigating the social behavior of subterranean termites is a challenge due to the cryptic nature and large colony size. Planar arenas are commonly used to study these termites under laboratory conditions, and have provided several advantages. However, there is no means to designate areas such as a royal chamber or central nest from foraging sites because reproductives can move freely across arenas. In this study, we examined the minimum passing size of different castes of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae), in order to develop a reproductive excluder and correlated minimum passing size with head widths and heights. We found that workers and soldiers of C. formosanus were able to pass through a gap greater than or equal to 0.7 mm. Our results showed that there are significant differences in the head width and height based on castes and head height was more critical than head width to determine passing size. We further confirmed feasibilities of the reproductive excluders using incipient colonies of C. formosanus. Confining reproductives using the excluder in laboratory experiments will provide more chances to study the royal chamber and central nest independently of foraging sites.

scholarly journals Altered Mobility and Accumulation of Inefficient Workers in Juvenile Hybrid Termite Colonies

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang-Bin Lee ◽  
Thomas Chouvenc ◽  
Jayshree Patel ◽  
Nan-Yao Su
Keyword(s):  
Parental Species ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Colony Growth ◽  
Coptotermes Formosanus ◽  
Hybrid Vigor ◽  
Subterranean Termites ◽  
Movement Activity ◽  
Coptotermes Gestroi ◽  
Incipient Colonies

Hybridization of two different species is an important mechanism to have gene flows between species. Recently, mating of two economically important invasive species of subterranean termites (Coptotermes formosanus and Coptotermes gestroi) have been observed in the field and hybrids colonies have been established in the laboratory. It was previously reported that incipient colonies (~1 year old) of hybrid Coptotermes species contained more termites than colonies of parental species, showing hybrid vigor. In this study, colony vigor and individual termite vigor were investigated in juvenile colonies (~2 year old), using colony growth parameters and the movement activity of individual termites as proxies for the evaluation of hybrid vigor beyond the initial colony foundation. After 2 years from colony foundations, hybrid colonies showed no more hybrid vigor. In addition, movement activity of termites in hybrid colonies was significantly slower than in termites from conspecific colonies. It is suggested that a reduction in the molting rates of individuals in hybrid colonies may have a negative impact on their physiology and their movement activity. These possible changes in physiology may affect the movement of individuals, and accumulation of these inefficient termites in hybrid colonies may contribute to the loss of hybrid vigor at 2 years of age in hybrid colonies.

Fused Colonies of the Formosan Subterranean Termite (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) for Laboratory Experiments

2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 2311-2315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang-Bin Lee ◽  
Aaron Mullins ◽  
Daniel Aguilera-Olivares ◽  
Thomas Chouvenc ◽  
Nan-Yao Su
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Coptotermes Formosanus ◽  
Subterranean Termite ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Colony Fusion ◽  
Coptotermes Formosanus Shiraki ◽  
Laboratory Colonies ◽  
Incipient Colony ◽  
Incipient Colonies

Abstract Laboratory studies of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) often employ the use of field-collected foraging populations of individuals as defined colonies. The biological relevance of this practice is often called into question, because these colonies lack a full composition of reproductive castes and brood, which may have physiological and behavioral consequences. Rearing intact laboratory colonies can be done; however, it is time-consuming and labor-intensive. The artificial fusion of field-collected foraging populations with a young, laboratory-reared incipient colony may provide whole, intact colonies for laboratory research. The current study measures survivorship of fused colonies using laboratory-reared complete incipient colonies ranging in age from 0 to 5 mo, fused with 100 workers and 10 soldiers from field-collected populations of different colonial origin. Results indicate that 60% of colony fusion was successful when the incipient colony introduced is 5 mo of age. This method of colony fusion will provide researchers with intact colonies using minimal resources.

Predation on marine-phase Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) by gannets (Morus bassanus) in the Northwest Atlantic

2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 602-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
W A Montevecchi ◽  
D K Cairns ◽  
R A Myers
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Salmon ◽  
Salmo Salar ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Atlantic Salmon Salmo Salar ◽  
Limited Sampling ◽  
Large Colony ◽  
Pelagic Food Webs ◽  
Migratory Routes ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Foraging Ranges

Predation on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) has been recorded in rivers and estuaries, but there is little documentation of predation at sea. Prey landed by gannets (Morus bassanus) over 24 years in a large colony off northeast Newfoundland included small proportions of post-smolt Atlantic salmon. Before 1990, when shifts in oceanographic conditions and pelagic food webs occurred in the Labrador Sea, post-smolts, on average, made up 0.29% of estimated intake by gannets during August 1977–1989. In contrast, during the 1990s, this estimate increased to 2.53%, peaking at 6.37% in 1993. Model estimates with wide error margins projected that gannets consumed a mean of 1.6 t and 19.2 t of post-smolts during August 1977–1989 and 1990–2000, respectively, making up 0.22% and 2.70% of estimated North American post-smolt biomass during these periods. The migratory routes of post-smolt Atlantic salmon pass through the foraging ranges of gannet colonies, but limited sampling at colonies other than Funk has not revealed salmon in gannet diets. Sampling seabird diets is an economic, biological means of investigating the ecology and natural mortality of Atlantic salmon. Spatial and temporal expansion of this sampling would enhance its oceanographic context and reduce uncertainty associated with estimates of predation by seabirds.

Evolution of parental care: the social insect paradigm

1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 228
Author(s):  
Peter Nonacs ◽  
HudsonK. Reeve
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
The Social

Geluidhinder: decibels of onrechtvaardige procedures?

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eveline Maris ◽  
Pieter Jan Stallen ◽  
Herman Steensma ◽  
Riël Vermunt
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Noise Exposure ◽  
Justice Theory ◽  
Psychological Model ◽  
Aviation Noise ◽  
Noise Annoyance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Management Procedures ◽  
Sound Management

Noise Annoyance: Decibels or Unfair Procedures? The contribution of social (in)justice theory to the explanation of noise annoyance Noise Annoyance: Decibels or Unfair Procedures? The contribution of social (in)justice theory to the explanation of noise annoyance E. Maris, P.J.M. Stallen, H. Steensma & R. Vermunt, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 20, November 2007, nr. 4, pp. 445-460 Noise annoyance is determined by acoustical (e.g., loudness, pitch) and nonacoustical variables (e.g., sensitivity, attitudes towards the source). What is the role of social nonacoustical variables (e.g., the sound management)? Three laboratory experiments (N1 = 90, N2 = 117, N3 = 76 subjects) investigating the effects of fair (i.e., 'voice'), neutral, and 'unfair' (i.e., inconsistent procedure) sound management procedures on annoyance with fifteen minutes of 50 or 70 dB A(Leq.) aircraft sound, are evaluated. Results from each experiment show that systematic differences in procedural fairness yield systematic differences in annoyance. The combined results suggest that: 1) a psychological model of noise annoyance needs to consider the social aspects of noise exposure, 2) the operation of social nonacoustical determinants depends on the perceived harmfulness of the exposure situation, arising either from the situation's acoustics or from its social implications, and 3) aviation noise policies should pay due attention to the fairness of their procedures.

scholarly journals The Waggle Dance as an Intended Flight: A Cognitive Perspective

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randolf Menzel
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Waggle Dance ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Social Community ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Walking Pattern ◽  
The Social ◽  
Dance Communication ◽  
Navigational Memory

The notion of the waggle dance simulating a flight towards a goal in a walking pattern has been proposed in the context of evolutionary considerations. Behavioral components, like its arousing effect on the social community, the attention of hive mates induced by this behavior, the direction of the waggle run relative to the sun azimuth or to gravity, as well as the number of waggles per run, have been tentatively related to peculiar behavioral patterns in both solitary and social insect species and are thought to reflect phylogenetic pre-adaptations. Here, I ask whether these thoughts can be substantiated from a functional perspective. Communication in the waggle dance is a group phenomenon involving the dancer and the followers that perform partially overlapping movements encoding and decoding the message respectively. It is thus assumed that the dancer and follower perform close cognitive processes. This provides us with access to these cognitive processes during dance communication because the follower can be tested in its flight performance when it becomes a recruit. I argue that the dance message and the landscape experience are processed in the same navigational memory, allowing the bee to fly novel direct routes, a property understood as an indication of a cognitive map.

scholarly journals Can morphological and behavioral traits predict the foraging and feeding dynamics of social arachnids?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renan F Moura ◽  
Everton Tizo-Pedroso ◽  
Kleber Del-Claro
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Task Specialization ◽  
Behavioral Traits ◽  
The Social

Abstract Complex social insect species exhibit task specialization mediated by morphological and behavioral traits. However, evidence of such traits is scarce for other social arthropods. We investigated whether the social pseudoscorpion Paratemnoides nidificator exhibits morphologically and behaviorally specialized individuals in prey capture. We measured body and chela sizes of adult pseudoscorpions and analyzed predation processes. Larger individuals spent more time moving through the colony and foraging than smaller pseudoscorpions. Individuals that captured prey had increased body and absolute chelae sizes. Although larger individuals had relatively small chelae size, they showed a higher probability of prey capture. Larger individuals manipulated prey often, although they fed less than smaller pseudoscorpions. Individuals that initiated captures fed more frequently and for more time than the others. Natural selection might be favoring individuals specialized in foraging and colony protection, allowing smaller and less efficient adults to avoid contact with dangerous prey. To our knowledge, there is incipient information regarding specialized individuals in arachnids, and our results might indicate the emergence of a morphologically specialized group in this species.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document