Resource selection in nasute termite: The role of social information

Abstract

During foraging, organisms need to assess the costs and benefits related to resources wanted. An energy‐efficient way of locating and deciding among new food sources is to use cues left by other organisms in the environment (i.e., social information). In the present study, manipulative bioassays were conducted to evaluate the role of intra‐ and interspecific chemical cues in the selection of food resource by Nasutitermes corniger (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae). For this, we tested the hypothesis that individuals of N. corniger are able to perceive and use chemical cues by either colonies of the same species or from different species. Linear trail bioassays were conducted to verify whether N. corniger workers perceive and accept intra‐ and interspecific chemical cues. Then, resource bioassays were performed with a binary and multiple choices to evaluate whether the termite group's decision of food resources was based on intra‐ and/or interspecific chemical cues. In general, groups of N. corniger preferred baits with chemical cues of other intraspecific colonies or with undetectable cues (hexane solvent or interspecific cues) than those with their own chemical signals. These results suggest that intraspecific chemical cues seem to modulate the food resource selection in N. corniger, which may help researchers to better understand the use of habitat by termites.

The dilemma between colony growth and survival: an experiment on food resource selection with a nasute termite

“…Nasutitermes corniger is a common, abundant, and dominant tree-nesting termite. This species has been chosen as a model species because many details of its behavior during resource selection and foraging have been clari ed (Levings and Adams 1984;Souza et al2018;Sacramento et al 2020;Silva et al 2021). Additionally, soldiers have chemical defense, which can be easily manipulated to access the levels of risk.…”

“…Fresh sugarcane baits were used as food resource in the bioassays. The choice of this food resource was based considering previous studies with Nasutitermes species that used sugarcane as bait in both laboratory and eld experiments (see Cristaldo et Silva et al 2021). Two quantity of food resource were used in the behavioral bioassays: (i) 5 g of sugarcane (a surrogate of low resource quantity) and (ii) 25 g of sugarcane (a surrogate of high resource quantity) (Fig.…”

Conspecific and heterospecific cueing in shelter choices of Blaptica dubia cockroaches

“…However, the social behavior of some species sometimes depends on heterospecific cues. For example, Nasutitermes corniger termites prefer food sites with chemical cues of conspecifics of other colonies, or even heterospecific termites, over food sites containing their own colony’s chemical cues ( Silva et al, 2021 ).…”