Termite Nests—A Study of the Phylogeny of Behavior

Emerson, Alfred E.

doi:10.2307/1943251

Cited by 139 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…comm.) and the positive phototropism of termite alates is well documented (Emerson, 1938). These beetle larvae will occasionally catch alates during the day, when a particularly heavy alate flight is in progress (observed only once) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Prey attraction as a possible function of bioluminescence in the larvae of Pyrearinus termitilluminans (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Redford

1982

Rev. Bras. Zool.

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Elaterid beetle larvae. Pyrearinus termitilluminans (sp .n., Costa, 1982.) Over twenty functions of bioluminescence have been advanced (Buck, 1978). Prey attraction has been suggested as a probable cause for luminescence in only two cases, benthic fishes (refs. in Buck, 1978) and fungus gnats (refs . in Lloyd, 1978; Sivinski, in press). This study reports an additional example of prey attraction in a Neotropical elaterid beetle larva, pyrearinus termitilluminans.As early as 1850 travelers to central Brazil have reported termite mounds with "pale glows of phosphorescent light, like coals in the ashes" (Smith, 1879; Castelnau in Branner, 1909). Various explanations were offered for these mysterious lights, from fungus and bacteria to the termite mounds themselves (Knab, 1909;Neiva & Penna, 1916; Branner, 1909) . Harvey (1952), in his comprehensive review of bioluminescence suggested that the lights might emanate from an insect living in or collecting on the termite hills, singling out glowworms, fireflies and dipterous larvae as possible candidates. I recently found that these lights were produced by the larvae of an undescribed species of pyrearinus. Costa (1982) named the new species termitilluminans.The author recently found in Mathews (1977: 51) reference to :\ similar form of bioluminescence from unidentified Elaterid larvae living in the gallery forest mounds of Cornitermes bequaerti. An explanation similar to the one advanced in this paper was offered by Mathews. METHODS AND RESULTSIn 1980 and 1981, in Emas National Park in the western region of Goills State, Brazil, the phenomenon of bioluminescent termite mounds was observed. Pyrearinus larvae in general are similar to those of all Pyrophorini, differing mainly in the way they luminesce (Costa, 1978). However, P. termitilluminans larvae are very different than other pyrearinus larvae so far examined (Costa, pers. comm.). Larvae obtained from two termite mounds have an average length of 17.9 mm (S. D . = 5 .0; N = 180) and ranged

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Prey attraction as a possible function of bioluminescence in the larvae of Pyrearinus termitilluminans (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Redford

1982

Rev. Bras. Zool.

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“…Friedman (1946) notes that the African pipit (Macronyx) and the American meadow-lark (Sturnella) show a number of ethological (e.g., song, nests, turning away from an approaching observer) as well as morphological similarities. Rain-shedding structures have evolved independently in nests of the Amitermitinae, Termitinae, and Nasutitermitinae (Emerson, 1938). The similarity of the nests of Procornitermes and Apicoiermes has already been noted (Desneux, 1953;Emerson, 1952b).…”

Section: Convergencementioning

confidence: 91%

“…Several types of this network are found. Excrement, saliva, and extraneous material such as sand, dirt, and wood particles are used by various termites in their constructions (Emerson, 1938). The bulk of the nest material in A picotermes is composed of excrement (Grasse and Noirot, 1948b) although the shagreen network seems to be built largely of grains of sand.…”

Section: General Nest Characteristics and Terminologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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THE EVOLUTION OF NEST-BUILDING BEHAVIOR IN APICOTERMES (ISOPTERA)

Schmidt

1955

Evolution

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“…Owing to the bees' need for nesting substrates that minimize the thermal stress of the outside environment (Jones & Oldroyd, 2007), differences between termite nests concerning their quality of thermal insulation may bias the bees' nest-site selection.Whereas Nasutitermes build carton nests using wood particles in the construction, Microcerotermes use mainly soil and sand particles for building their nests (Emerson, 1938). This inclusion of mineral material results in an increased material density (Amelung et al, 2002) and, consequently, in an increased heat capacity of the material used for nest construction (John et al, 2005).…”

Section: Short Notementioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunistic Occupation of Nests of Microcerotermes spp. Silvestri (Termitidae, Termitinae) by Partamona seridoensis Camargo & Pedro (Apidae, Meliponini) in the Brazilian Tropical Dry Forest

Oliveira¹,

Silva²,

Hrncir³

2016

Sociobiology

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Social bees make use of natural or animal-built structures to protect their colonies from environmental stressors. Here, particularly attractive shelters are active termite nests because they provide a stable climatic environment for inquilines. Several social bee species form obligatory associations with termites, among these the stingless bee Partamona seridoensis (Apidae, Meliponini), whose distribution is limited to the Tropical Dry Forest in the Brazilian Northeast. So far, colonies of this meliponine species have been found mainly in arboreal nests of the termite Constrictotermes cyphergaster, which suggests a tight relationship between these two social insect species. The present study was conducted in an area of the Tropical Dry Forest in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Norte, where P. seridoensis naturally occurs albeit the absence of C. cyphergaster. We registered 14 colonies of P. seridoensis, all occupying active arboreal nests of termites of the genus Microcerotermes. The only other termites with arboreal nests present in the study area, Nasutitermes corniger, never housed P. seridoensis. This selective preference of the bees for Microcerotermes nests might be due to differences between termites concerning defense mechanisms or concerning thermal stability within the nests.

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Termite Nests—A Study of the Phylogeny of Behavior

Cited by 139 publications

References 16 publications

Prey attraction as a possible function of bioluminescence in the larvae of Pyrearinus termitilluminans (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Prey attraction as a possible function of bioluminescence in the larvae of Pyrearinus termitilluminans (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

THE EVOLUTION OF NEST-BUILDING BEHAVIOR IN APICOTERMES (ISOPTERA)

Opportunistic Occupation of Nests of Microcerotermes spp. Silvestri (Termitidae, Termitinae) by Partamona seridoensis Camargo & Pedro (Apidae, Meliponini) in the Brazilian Tropical Dry Forest

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