Subterranean termite colony elimination can be achieved even when only a small proportion of foragers feed upon a CSI bait

Gordon, Johnalyn M.; Velenovsky, Joseph F.; Chouvenc, Thomas

doi:10.1007/s10340-021-01446-4

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…More critically, the current results demonstrate that the remaining protozoa within the primary reproductives' guts cannot support the queen and king's own survival past 150 days. It confirms that by this time, both the queen and king display minimal direct wood consumption and instead primarily rely on their workers to provide them salivary secretions through stomodeal trophallaxis for the rest of their lives (Cleveland, 1925; Du et al, 2016, 2017), otherwise, they starve to death (Chouvenc, 2020; Gordon et al, 2022). This mostly wood‐free diet ultimately results in the progressive loss of protozoa in the queen and king's gut over more than a year after colony foundation (Cleveland, 1925; Velenovsky et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…Once completed, this transition is irreversible in termites, as the loss of workers beyond the alloparental care shift inevitably leads to the loss of eggs and larvae, as the queen and king starve to death (Chouvenc, 2018, 2020; Chouvenc & Su, 2017; Gordon et al, 2022). It was first hypothesized that the progressive loss of cellulositic protozoa in the termite queen and king was responsible for the irreversible transfer of brood care duty (Chouvenc & Su, 2017; Shimada et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Eusociality and the transition from biparental to alloparental care in termites

Chouvenc

2022

Functional Ecology

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1. In eusocial organisms, cooperative brood care within a colony represents a situation where the ancestral parental care duties have shifted away from the reproductive parent(s) towards their offspring. The shift to alloparental care was often instrumental in the initial emergence of eusociality, as it ultimately contributed to the establishment of the reproductive division of labour.2. Remarkably, eusocial taxa such as ants and termites, which still display an ancestral independent colony foundation phase, must go through an obligatory parental care period, as a temporary subsocial family unit. In termites specifically, an incipient colony inherently remains a woodroach family unit until alloparental care is established. Colony foundation success can then be limited by a series of factors that may include environmental, behavioural, symbiotic and physiological constraints.3. In this study, 450 incipient termite colonies (Coptotermes gestroi) were established to investigate the timing of physiological changes in founders during the transition from biparental to alloparental care. Results showed that the finite initial internal nutritional resources that alates carry during the dispersal flight are a primary limiting factor for successful colony establishment. The Coptotermes queen and king must rapidly establish (<150 days) their first cohort of offspring to reach alloparental care or simply run out of resources and die. Alates, therefore, carry just enough internal resources to produce the first few alloparents (< 15 workers) to prime the system towards colony ergonomic growth, with a definitive shift to solely reproductive functions. 4. Eusocial insect primary reproductive traits were optimized for three successive functions within the life cycle of a colony: alate dispersal (sexual reproduction), colony foundation (parental care) and colony growth (increased egg production towards colony maturity). However, results suggest that trade-offs involving these functions appear to primarily favour dispersal ones (quantity vs. quality of alates), as founder(s) carry minimal resources and have no room for parental care inefficiency and as they then fully rely on their alloparents for further reproductive output.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Eusociality and the transition from biparental to alloparental care in termites

Chouvenc

2022

Functional Ecology

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“…This note was important, as it indicated that the owner of the property had commercial subterranean termite hexaflumuron bait stations (Su, 1994) installed, and that the site could no longer serve as a source for termite experiments in the laboratory. Unfortunately, the opportunity to observe the accelerated senescence of a CSIbaited colonies in the field with the rapid accumulation of old workers (Chouvenc, 2018;Gordon et al, 2022) was missed. However, the last sampling event still revealed the initial colony demographic shift that would be expected with the loss of the brood and young workers (Chouvenc and Lee, 2021), with a sudden rise of the soldier ratios, from an average of 4.26 ± 3.6% (n = 28) in the three months before the implementation of the CSI baits, to 32.44 ± 13.47% (n = 8) on August 1st 1996 (t-test, df = 34, t = 10.18, p < 0.001), and with the sudden increase in workers' weight from an average of 3.25 ± 0.21 mg (n = 28) in the three months before the implementation of the CSI baits, to 3.68 ± 0.20 mg (n = 8) on August 1st 1996 (ttest, df = 34, t = 5.29, p < 0.001).…”

Section: Site Cf2 a Perennial Trajectory With A Reproductive Shiftmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life and Death of Termite Colonies, a Decades-Long Age Demography Perspective

Chouvenc

Ban

2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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A eusocial insect colony represents a complex biological entity that must ensure degrees of perennity once it reaches maturity (production of dispersing imagoes over many successive years) to optimize its reproductive success. It is known that a subterranean termite colony invests differentially in different castes over time and adjusts colony functions depending on colony internal and external conditions over many years of activity. However, the current study demonstrates that Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki field mature colonies go through dramatic demographic changes and breeding structure shifts, even many years after they have reached reproductive success. By analyzing the changes in age demography of C. formosanus colonies from four field sites, we here provide a new perspective on how a colony may function over decades, which reveals that each colony demographic trajectory is unique. In a way, throughout its life, a termite colony displays its own “demographic individuality” that drives its growth, its foraging ability, its competitiveness, its age demography, its senescence and ultimately its death. This study is therefore a narrated story of the life -and death- of different C. formosanus field colonies over decades of observation.

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“…There are several effective methods that have been used in the control of termites across the world, but most of these are based on the application of chemical termiticides [14,15]. Several studies have reported on termite control strategies, most of which involve the application of synthetic insecticides/termiticides as wood preservatives, termite baits, and fumigants as the most commonly preferred methods [15][16][17]. The application of chitin synthesis inhibitors (CSIs) such as noviflumuron and insect growth regulators (IGRs) such as hexaflumuron insecticides, formulated into durable and palatable cellulosic baits could eliminate an entire termite colony in a period of approximately 2-3months [16,[18][19][20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Entomopathogenic Potential of <em>Bacillus velezensis</em> CE 100 for the Biological Control of Termite Damage in Wooden Architectural Buildings of Korean Cultural Heritage

Moon¹,

Ajuna²,

Won³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Biocontrol strategies are gaining tremendous attention with the growing awareness of the irreparable harm caused by the continuous use of synthetic pesticides. This study examines the proteolytic and chitinolytic activities of Bacillus velezensis CE 100 and its termiticidal effect through cuticle degradation. The proteolytic and chitinolytic activities of B. velezensis CE 100 systematically increased with cell growth to the respective peak of 68.3, and 128.3 units/mL after seventh days of inoculation, corresponding with the highest cell growth of 16 x 107 colony forming units (CFU)/mL. The in vitro termiticidal assay showed that B. velezensis CE 100 caused a rapid and high rate of termite mortality with the median lethal time (LT50) of &gt; 1h, and the highest mortality rate of 91.1% and 92.2% recorded at 11h and 12h in the bacterial broth culture and crude enzyme fraction, respectively. In addition to broken setae and deformed sockets, termites treated with the bacterial broth culture exhibited degraded epicuticles, while the crude enzyme fraction caused severe disintegration of both the epicuticle and endocuticle. These results indicate a tremendously higher prospect of B. velezensis CE 100 in the biological control of subterranean termites compared to the previously used entomopathogenic bacteria.

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Subterranean termite colony elimination can be achieved even when only a small proportion of foragers feed upon a CSI bait

Cited by 17 publications

References 43 publications

Eusociality and the transition from biparental to alloparental care in termites

Eusociality and the transition from biparental to alloparental care in termites

Life and Death of Termite Colonies, a Decades-Long Age Demography Perspective

Entomopathogenic Potential of <em>Bacillus velezensis</em> CE 100 for the Biological Control of Termite Damage in Wooden Architectural Buildings of Korean Cultural Heritage

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