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Studies were conducted on the dampwood termite, Zootermopsis nevadensis, to examine the behavioral roles of the reproductive pair during the nestfounding period and to determine the effect of nitrogen availability on their reproduction and division of labor. Nitrogen has been hypothesized to be an important limiting nutrient for founding pairs. One nitrogenous reserve, uric acid-nitrogen, was examined in reproductives and in nutrient-receiving and nutrient-gathering colony members; it was found in highest amounts in the reproductives (i.e., alates, de-alates, and primary reproductives). Young pairs may use these nitrogenous reserves to increase their chances for reproduction. In support of this hypothesis, founding pairs that were fed a diet supplemented with uric acid-nitrogen had a significantly greater probability of producing at least one offspring than did pairs fed an unsupplemented diet. Females that were fed a nitrogen-poor diet restricted their total activity while their mates sustained a high activity during colony initiation. When fed a nitrogen-rich diet, females collected pulp more often than their mates, while males collected more water, though only in the period prior to egg laying. In all pairs, males transferred proctodeal pellets (food derived from the hindgut intestine) to their mates significantly more often than females to males, and females fed on proctodeal pellets significantly more often than did their mates. The male-female asymmetries in pellet transfer and feeding were not significant in the stage after egg deposition. Once eggs and larvae were present in the nest, a male and female spend an equal percentage of time caring for eggs and feeding larvae. Proctodeal pellets examined in reproductives were found to be rich in proteins. This suggests that in the pre-egg period, the male provides nitrogen-rich substances to the female as a form of paternal investment.

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No abstract

In species where parental investment is extensive for both sexes, both males and females are predicted to exhibit choosiness when seeking their lifetime partners. Evidence is presented that both courting males and females are choosy in the wood-dwelling, biparental termite Zootermopsis nevadensis. There are, however, sex di¡erences both in the method of mate rejection and in the mate-choice criteria. In particular, females are more likely than males to invite an extra suitor into the nest, whereas males are more likely than females to leave their nest and partner and seek a replacement elsewhere. Correlational analyses of adults show that head width is a mate-choice criterion used by females, whereas body mass and fat mass are used by males. Among males and females that sought replacement mates, those that had been rejected previously were more likely to end up paired with an adult that also had been rejected, compared with adults that had not been rejected. Additional ¢ndings reveal a rich repertoire of courting behaviours characterized by extensive intra-and intersexual con£ict, including mate rejection, intrasexual combat, and even intrapair aggression.