Effect of food resource and carton nest material on laboratory group survival of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky, 1855) (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae)

Larissa F. Ferreira; Cátila R. Silva; Renan E. C. Santos; Paulo F. Cristaldo

doi:10.37486/2675-1305.ec04030

Authors

Larissa F. Ferreira Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE
Cátila R. Silva Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0214-0894
Renan E. C. Santos Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5095-1969
Paulo F. Cristaldo Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife , PE https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4939-0487

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37486/2675-1305.ec04030

Keywords:

manipulative bioassays, protocols, termite, survivorship

Abstract

Ecological, behavioral, and toxicological studies with termites are frequently difficult to conduct under field conditions because their cryptic lifestyle. It is important to know the factors that can limit survival to ensure that laboratory studies will reflect the natural survival of these insects. Here, we tested the effect of a food resource and carton nest material on group survival of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky, 1855) (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) in the laboratory. In general, termites survived longer in treatments with a food resource (sugarcane baits) compared to groups with carton nest material and control. However, groups with food resources exhibited high mortality due to fungal infection. The result of this study may contribute to the establishment of bioassay protocols performed with N. corniger in the laboratory.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Albuquerque, A. C.; Cunha, F. M.; Oliveira, M. A. P.; Veiga, A. F. S. L.; Luma-Alves Lima, E. A. (2008) Análise de substratos para teste de sobrevivência com Nasutitermes coxipoensis (Holmgren) (Isoptera: Termitidae). Arquivos do Instituto Biológico, 75: 529-532. doi: 10.1590/1808-1657v75p5292008

Boulogne, I.; Constantino, R.; Amusant, N.; Falkowski, M.; Rodrigues, A. M. S.; Houël, E. (2017) Ecology of termites from the genus Nasutitermes (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) and potential for science-based development of sustainable pest management programs. Journal of Pest Science, 90(1): 19-37. doi: 10.1007/s10340-016-0796-x

Bulmer, M. S.; Bachelet, I.; Raman, R.; Rosengaus, R. B.; Sasisekharan, R. (2009) Targeting antimicrobial effector function in insect immunity as a pest control strategy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(31): 12652-12657. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0904063106

Constantino, R. (2002) The pest termites of South America: taxonomy, distribution and status. Journal of Applied Entomology, 126(7-8): 355-365. doi: 10.1046/j.1439-0418.2002.00670.x

Donovan, S. E.; Eggleton, P.; Bignell, D. E. (2001) Gut content analysis and a new feeding group classification of termites. Ecological Entomology, 26(4): 356-366. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2311.2001.00342.x

Ferreira, D. V.; Cruz, J. S.; Sacramento, J. J. M.; Rocha, M. L. C.; Cristaldo, P. F.; Araújo, A. P. A. (2019) Effect of temperature and substrate moisture on group survival of Constrictotermes sp. (Isoptera: Termitidae) under laboratory conditions. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, 62: 9-11. doi: 10.1016/j.rbe.2018.12.004

Haverty, M. I. (1977) The proportion of soldiers in termite colonies: a list and a bibliography (Isoptera). Sociobiology, 2(3): 199-216.

Jouquet, P.; Traoré, S.; Choosai, C.; Hartmann, C.; Bignell, D. (2011) Influence of termites on ecosystem functioning. Ecosystem services provided by termites. European Journal of Soil Biology, 47(4): 2150-222. doi: 10.1016/j.ejsobi.2011.05.005

Loreto, R. G.; DeSouza, O.; Elliot, S. L. (2009) Colored glue as a tool to mark termites (Cornitermes cumulans; Isoptera. Termitidae) for ecological and behavioral studies. Sociobiology, 54(2): 351-360.

Marins, A.; Cristaldo, P. F.; Paiva, L. R.; Miramontes, O.; DeSouza, O. (2023) A new approach to mark termites (Cornitermes cumulans (Kollar) Blattodea: Isoptera) for laboratory bioassays. Brazilian Journal of Biology, 83. doi: 10.1590/1519-6984.03316

Noirot, C. (1970) The Nests of Termites. In: Krishna, K.; Weesner F. M. (Eds.), Biology of Termites, pp. 73-120. New York: Academic Press.

R Development Core Team 2019. (2019) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/.

Sacramento, J. J. M.; Cristaldo, P. F.; Santana, D. L.; Cruz, J. S.; Oliveira, B. V. S.; dos Santos, A. T.; Araújo, A. P. A. (2020) Soldiers of the termite Nasutitermes corniger (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) increase the ability to exploit food resources. Behavioral Processes, 181: 104-272. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104272

Silva, A. N. F.; Silva, C. R.; Santos, R. E. C.; Arce, C. C. M.; Araújo, A. P. A.; Cristaldo, P. F. (2021) Resource selection in nasute termite: The role of social information. Ethology, 127(3): 278-285. doi: 10.1111/eth.13125

Scheffrahn, R. H.; Krecek, J.; Szalanski, A. L.; Austin, J. W. (2005) Synonymy of neotropical arboreal termites Nasutitermes corniger and N. costalis (Isoptera: Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae), with evidence from morphology, genetics, and biogeography. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 98(3): 273-281. doi: 10.1603/0013-8746(2005)098[0273:SONATN]2.0.CO;2

Thorne, B. L.; Haverty, M. I. (2000) Nest growth and survivorship in three species of neotropical Nasutitermes (Isoptera: Termitidae). Environmental Entomology, 29(2): 256-264. doi: 10.1093/ee/29.2.256

Zukowski, J.; Su, N. Y. (2017) Survival of termites (Isoptera) exposed to various levels of relative humidity (RH) and water availability, and their RH preferences. Florida Entomologist, 100(3): 532-538. doi: 10.1653/024.100.0307