Relatedness, recognition errors, and colony fusion in the termite Nasutitermes corniger

Adams, Eldridge S.; Atkinson, Lynn; Bulmer, Mark S.

doi:10.1007/s00265-007-0349-7

Cited by 36 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The intermediate genera Reticulitermes and Coptotermes, with both sterile workers and totipotent helpers, are well known for reproduction by 'extended families' [48] but colonies seldom fuse [49]. Within the higher termites, colony fusion has thus far been documented only in N. corniger [16]. Further experimental and natural history work is needed to understand when and how this phenomenon occurs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While workers and soldiers from mature N. corniger colonies generally attack non-nest-mates ( [39,42] and T. R. Hartke 2007Hartke -2009, personal observation), workers and soldiers in incipient colonies seem to be highly tolerant of non-nestmates, including young queens and kings. Experimental mergers of natural colonies [16] suggest that some colonies remain tolerant and retain the potential for mergers during maturity. In this way, colonies could accrue the benefits of larger colony size at a younger age, without the risks of pleometrosis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although never documented in this species, pleometrosis was also thought to explain the origin of these multiple unrelated queens and kings [17][18][19]. More recently, experimental fusion of mature colonies [16] suggests that mergers later in colony development could contribute to the observed pattern. No previous research has systematically examined the costs and benefits of pleometrosis during colony foundation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pleometrosis, colony foundation by multiple reproductives, has been directly observed in Macrotermes [12,13] and may be adaptive under marginal ecological conditions and/or competition for unevenly distributed resources [11,14]. In the neotropical Nasutitermes corniger, 20-25% of mature colonies are headed by multiple unrelated primary reproductives [15,16]. Although never documented in this species, pleometrosis was also thought to explain the origin of these multiple unrelated queens and kings [17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Costs of pleometrosis in a polygamous termite

Hartke

Rosengaus

2013

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Costs and benefits of pleometrosis, as understood from social Hymenoptera, have never been tested in the independently evolved termites. To understand the extent to which such co-founding may be advantageous for colony survival and growth, we tracked the survival and reproduction of 5000 laboratory-established incipient colonies of the facultatively polygamous neotropical termite Nasutitermes corniger. Significantly more pleometrotic groups than monogamous queen-king pairs failed within the first 90 days of establishment, and 99 per cent of pleometrotic groups lost at least one founding member. Oviposition commenced earlier in larger groups, but colony growth was slower and production of workers and soldiers was delayed compared with pairs. Thus, pleometrosis does not increase colony fitness and is in fact highly disadvantageous.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Costs of pleometrosis in a polygamous termite

Hartke

Rosengaus

2013

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…While, in most cases, overt aggression results from the encounter, sometimes aggression is limited or absent. Agonism varies among species, colonies, and nests (Jmhasly and Leuthold 1999b;Adams et al 2007), as well as among individuals; therefore, a colony's response may change over time as the most aggressive individuals are killed off in conflicts (Leponce et al 1996).…”

Section: Nestmate Recognition and Agonismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communication and Social Regulation in Termites

Bagnères

Hanus

2015

Social Recognition in Invertebrates

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Communication and social regulation are among the distinguishing features of termites: they are part of all basic aspects of termite biology, from ontogeny and caste differentiation to social behavior and cooperation. As in other highly social taxa, communication in termites predominantly relies on a complex network of chemical signals, which are complemented by vibration-based signals. In contrast to other social taxa, the role of visual cues is negligible. In this chapter, we review the recent literature on the different components that make up termite communication and social regulation systems by tracing termite evolution and examining the role played by different factors, such as sex and caste, and different behaviors, such as those related to defense, nestmate recognition, egg and brood care, foraging, and nest building, among others. The main characteristics of termites are compared to those of other social insects in the introduction. In the first section, we review the most important researches on termite communication and social regulation that are related to social activities in the basal phylogenetic lineages, and in the Termitidae (higher termites), the most advanced and diversified family. The abundant literature on the best studied genera, Reticulitermes, Coptotermes, and Heterotermes, which are considered for the purposes of this chapter to be intermediate termites, is reviewed and discussed separately in the second section. By using this approach, we seek to describe communication and social regulation systems in basal and primitive termites and illustrate how they have evolved to become more complex in intermediate and higher termites.

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