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Different faces, same attitudes: behavioral mimicry and description of a new termitophilous species of the remarkable rove beetle genus Thyreoxenus (Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae, Corotocini) from Brazil with notes on post-imaginal growth. THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 2022; 109:53. [DOI: 10.1007/s00114-022-01820-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 04/17/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Castiblanco J, Cristaldo PF, Paiva LR, DeSouza O. Social context modulates scale-free movements in a social insect. J Theor Biol 2022; 542:111106. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2022.111106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2021] [Revised: 03/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Marins A, Cristaldo PF, Paiva LR, Miramontes O, DeSouza O. A new approach to mark termites (Cornitermes cumulans (Kollar) Blattodea: Isoptera) for laboratory bioassays. BRAZ J BIOL 2021; 83:e03316. [PMID: 34730713 DOI: 10.1590/1519-6984.03316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2016] [Accepted: 05/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral lab bioassays involving termites must be promptly performed to allow intended observations prior to death from dissecation, typical of these soft-bodied insects. To this end, topic markers have been proposed as an alternative to histological stains which, while not always toxic are inevitably lengthy to apply. Among recommended topic markers, gouache is easy to apply, dries out quickly, but it is known affect termites in the long run, being suitable only to short-term bioassays. Its alternative, colored glue, is also easy to apply, but it takes long to dry and it is too dense and heavy, being thus prone to affect termite walking patterns. Here we tested a mix of gouache and colored glue aiming to combine the qualities of both into a suitable topical marker for Cornitermes cumulans termites. Similar patterns of survival presented by marked and unmarked termites ruled out concerns about toxicity of this mixture. Such results were consistent across distinct group densities evidencing that the mixture does not interfere with, nor it is affected by, crowding effects. Because crowding regulates interindividual interactions and these underlie most behaviors, the mixture can be thought to be suitable to behavioral studies. We argue that this 1:2 glue:gouache mixture is an excellent alternative to mark termites for lab bioassays. Being atoxic, cheap, easy to apply, and non-invasive, this mixture may happen to be useful not only for termites but also in bioassaying other similarly soft-bodied insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Marins
- Universidade Federal de Viçosa - UFV, Departamento de Entomologia, Laboratório de Termitologia, Viçosa, MG, Brasil.,Universidade Federal de Viçosa - UFV, Departamento de Solos, Viçosa, MG, Brasil
| | - P F Cristaldo
- Universidade Federal de Viçosa - UFV, Departamento de Entomologia, Laboratório de Termitologia, Viçosa, MG, Brasil.,Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco - UFRPE, Departamento de Agronomia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia, Laboratório de Insetos Sinantrópicos, Recife, PE, Brasil
| | - L R Paiva
- Universidade Federal de Viçosa - UFV, Departamento de Entomologia, Laboratório de Termitologia, Viçosa, MG, Brasil.,Universidade Federal de São João Del-Rei - UFSJ, Ouro Branco, MG, Brasil
| | - O Miramontes
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Física, Departamento de Sistemas Complejos, Ciudad de México, México.,Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad - C3, Ciudad de México, México
| | - O DeSouza
- Universidade Federal de Viçosa - UFV, Departamento de Entomologia, Laboratório de Termitologia, Viçosa, MG, Brasil
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Padget RFB, Thompson FJ. Marking through molts: An evaluation of visible implant elastomer to permanently mark individuals in a lower termite species. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:12834-12844. [PMID: 34594542 PMCID: PMC8462160 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in individual marking methods have facilitated detailed studies of animal populations and behavior as they allow tracking of individuals through time and space. Hemimetabolous insects, representing a wide range of commonly used model organisms, present a unique challenge to individual marking as they are not only generally small-bodied, but also molt throughout development, meaning that traditional surface marks are not persistent.Visible implant elastomer (VIE) offers a potential solution as small amounts of the inert polymer can be implanted under the skin or cuticle of an animal. VIE has proved useful for individually marking fish, crustaceans, and amphibians in both field and laboratory studies and has recently been successfully trialed in laboratory populations of worms and fly larvae. We trialed VIE in the single-piece nesting termite Zootermopsis angusticollis, a small hemimetabolous insect.We found that there was no effect of VIE on survival and that marks persisted following molting. However, we found some evidence that marked termites performed less allogrooming and trophallaxis than controls, although effect sizes were very small.Our study suggests that VIE is an effective technique for marking small hemimetabolous insects like termites but we advocate that caution is applied, particularly when behavioral observation is important.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca F. B. Padget
- Centre for Ecology and ConservationCollege of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterCornwallUK
- Centre for Research in Animal BehaviourCollege of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterExeterUK
| | - Faye J. Thompson
- Centre for Ecology and ConservationCollege of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterCornwallUK
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Scale-free movement patterns in termites emerge from social interactions and preferential attachments. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2004369118. [PMID: 33972415 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2004369118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
As the number or density of interacting individuals in a social group increases, a transition can develop from uncorrelated and disordered behavior of the individuals to a collective coherent pattern. We expand this observation by exploring the fine details of termite movement patterns to demonstrate that the value of the scaling exponent μ of a power law describing the Lévy walk of an individual is modified collectively as the density of animals in the group changes. This effect is absent when termites interact with inert obstacles. We also show that the network of encounters and interactions among specific individuals is selective, resembling a preferential attachment mechanism that is important for social networking. Our data strongly suggest that preferential attachments, a phenomenon not reported previously, and favorite interactions with a limited number of acquaintances are responsible for the generation of Lévy movement patterns in these social insects.
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Hugo H, Cristaldo PF, DeSouza O. Nonaggressive behavior: A strategy employed by an obligate nest invader to avoid conflict with its host species. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:8741-8754. [PMID: 32884654 PMCID: PMC7452783 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2020] [Revised: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
In addition to its builders, termite nests are known to house a variety of secondary opportunistic termite species so-called inquilines, but little is known about the mechanisms governing the maintenance of these symbioses. In a single nest, host and inquiline colonies are likely to engage in conflict due to nestmate discrimination, and an intriguing question is how both species cope with each other in the long term. Evasive behaviour has been suggested as one of the mechanisms reducing the frequency of host-inquiline encounters, yet, the confinement imposed by the nests' physical boundaries suggests that cohabiting species would eventually come across each other. Under these circumstances, it is plausible that inquilines would be required to behave accordingly to secure their housing. Here, we show that once inevitably exposed to hosts individuals, inquilines exhibit nonthreatening behaviours, displaying hence a less threatening profile and preventing conflict escalation with their hosts. By exploring the behavioural dynamics of the encounter between both cohabitants, we find empirical evidence for a lack of aggressiveness by inquilines towards their hosts. Such a nonaggressive behaviour, somewhat uncommon among termites, is characterised by evasive manoeuvres that include reversing direction, bypassing and a defensive mechanism using defecation to repel the host. The behavioural adaptations we describe may play an important role in the stability of cohabitations between host and inquiline termite species: by preventing conflict escalation, inquilines may improve considerably their chances of establishing a stable cohabitation with their hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helder Hugo
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective BehaviourUniversity of KonstanzKonstanzGermany
- Department of Collective BehaviourMax Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorRadolfzellGermany
- Department of BiologyUniversity of KonstanzKonstanzGermany
- Lab of TermitologyFederal University of ViçosaViçosaBrazil
| | - Paulo F. Cristaldo
- Department of AgronomyFederal Rural University of PernambucoRecifeBrazil
| | - Og DeSouza
- Lab of TermitologyFederal University of ViçosaViçosaBrazil
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Miramontes O, DeSouza O, Paiva LR, Marins A, Orozco S. Lévy flights and self-similar exploratory behaviour of termite workers: beyond model fitting. PLoS One 2014; 9:e111183. [PMID: 25353958 PMCID: PMC4213025 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2014] [Accepted: 09/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal movements have been related to optimal foraging strategies where self-similar trajectories are central. Most of the experimental studies done so far have focused mainly on fitting statistical models to data in order to test for movement patterns described by power-laws. Here we show by analyzing over half a million movement displacements that isolated termite workers actually exhibit a range of very interesting dynamical properties--including Lévy flights--in their exploratory behaviour. Going beyond the current trend of statistical model fitting alone, our study analyses anomalous diffusion and structure functions to estimate values of the scaling exponents describing displacement statistics. We evince the fractal nature of the movement patterns and show how the scaling exponents describing termite space exploration intriguingly comply with mathematical relations found in the physics of transport phenomena. By doing this, we rescue a rich variety of physical and biological phenomenology that can be potentially important and meaningful for the study of complex animal behavior and, in particular, for the study of how patterns of exploratory behaviour of individual social insects may impact not only their feeding demands but also nestmate encounter patterns and, hence, their dynamics at the social scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Octavio Miramontes
- Departamento de Sistemas Complejos, Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
- C3, Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
- * E-mail:
| | - Og DeSouza
- Laboratório de Termitologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Leticia Ribeiro Paiva
- Laboratório de Termitologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Alessandra Marins
- Laboratório de Termitologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Sirio Orozco
- Departamento de Sistemas Complejos, Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
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