Cuticular Hydrocarbons and Aggression in the Termite Macrotermes Subhyalinus

Abstract

Cuticular hydrocarbons are among the prime candidates for nestmate recognition in social insects. We analyzed the variation of cuticular hydrocarbons in the termite species M. subhyalinus in West Africa (Comoë National Park) on a small spatial scale (< 1 km). We found considerable variation in the composition of cuticular hydrocarbons among colonies, with four distinct chemical phenotypes. Different phenotypes occurred within each of the four habitats. The difference between these phenotypes is primarily due to unsaturated compounds. A clear correlation between the difference of the hydrocarbon composition and the aggression between colonies was found. This correlation also holds in a multivariate analysis of genetic similarity (measured by AFLPs), morphometric distances (measured by Mahalanobis-distances). as well as geographic distances between colonies. In a more detailed analysis of the correlation between the composition of cuticular hydrocarbons and aggression, we found that no single compound is sufficient to explain variation in aggression between pairings of colonies. Thus, termites seem to use a bouquet of compounds. Multiple regression analysis suggested that many of these compounds are unsaturated hydrocarbons and, thus, may play a key role in colony recognition.

Nestmate recognition in defense against nest invasion by conspecifics during swarming in a one-piece nesting termite

“…The occurrence of behavioral events and the duration of behavioral states were evaluated through playback using the program JWatcher v1.0 [28]. Following similar studies with termites [8,24,[29][30][31][32], ants [33], wasps [34] and bees [35], the behaviors of the soldier which derived from a recognition process were classified as aggressive (biting, grasping, opening jaws), alarm (drumming) and nonaggressive (antennating, backing up). Biting includes perforating the exoskeleton of the dealate, grasping refers to holding the oponent with the jaws without inflicting apparent damage, drumming consists in body vibrations against the substrate, antennation involves touching the oponent with the antennae, and backing up implies running away or backing up after contact.…”

“…Lastly, since a negative correlation between degree of relatedness and intensity of aggression has also been reported in a separate-piece nesting termite [24], we tested the occurrence of such correlation with the data from the experiments mentioned above.…”

“…[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Although this role has not yet been described in one-piece termites, we tested the possible involvement of CC in the interaction of soldiers and dealates of N. chilensis.…”

Comparison of Cuticular Hydrocarbons of Different Developmental Stages of the Spot Clothing Wax Cicada, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae)

“…(Kim et al, 2004), 사회성곤충인 개미도 똑같은 역 할을 수행할 뿐만 아니라 대부분 분화된 계급을 통해 번식과 같이 복잡한 행동을 조절하는 것으로 알려져 있다 (Lommelen et al, 2006). 또한 곤충의 표피탄화수소는 양성의 동종을 유인하는 aggregation pheromone과 이성의 동종을 유인하는 sex pheromone 등 semiochemicals과 같은 기능을 한다 (Kaib et al, 2004). (Xiao, 1991), 중국에서 국내로 유입 및 정착하였고, 2006년 이 후 전국적으로 확산되어 포도농가에 큰 피해를 주고 있다 (Han et al, 2008;Lee et al, 2009;Park et al, 2009;Shin et al, 2010).…”

Chemical communication in isoptera

“…Termite cuticle functions as an enormous exocrine gland, producing a mixture of chemical substances, mainly hydrocarbons (Kaib 1999), which are believed to be involved in nestmate recognition (Clément & Bagnères 1998, BatistaPereira et al 2004, Kaib et al 2004. This belief is based on the fact that hydrocarbon cuticular composition differs among colonies of the same termite species (Howard 1993, Kaib et al 2002, and that these differences might be correlated with intercolonial aggressions (Jmhasly et al 1998).…”