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Connétable, Sophie; Robert, Alain; Bouffault, F.; Bordereau, Christian

doi:10.1023/a:1020887421551

Cited by 44 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Worker termites have several types of organs that sense vibrations at the base of the antennae and on the tibiae (6-10). We know that they have the ability to hear, interpret, and use vibroacoustic signals because soldier termites generate alarm signals acoustically by drumming their heads against the substrate or shaking bodies held firmly to the substrate (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13). Worker termites are very noisy insects: their loud chewing was mentioned by Pliny the Elder 2,000 years ago (14).…”

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confidence: 99%

Termites assess wood size by using vibration signals

Evans

Lai

Toledano

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

109

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Contrary to the common perception that termites are indiscriminant eaters, termites choose their food carefully; however, the methods by which they choose food are not well understood. Using choice experiments and recordings of termites feeding on wooden blocks of different sizes, we show that worker drywood termites (Cryptotermes domesticus) use the resonant frequency of a block of wood to assess its size. Drywood termites showed differences in their response to vibration recordings of termites compared with artificially generated signals, suggesting that they can discriminate the source of vibration. Furthermore, fewer workers matured into neotenic reproductives when recorded termite signals were played, suggesting that vibration signals play an important role in termite communication.foraging ͉ vibroacoustic ͉ communication ͉ social insects

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Termites assess wood size by using vibration signals

Evans

Lai

Toledano

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

109

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“…As the specific alarm signaling in termites (comparable to panic in ants) is a subtle behavior 71 , 72 out of the scope of this work, general alarm is accompanied by a dramatic change in the group behavior. The general alarm typically involves many individuals disturbed at foraging sites, or present in a part of the nest that has been locally damaged 27 , 36 , 59 , 60 , 63 – 69 . The alerting termites search for quiet termites, touch them with their antennae, and perform tremulations to alert them 36 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These direct observations repeatedly revealed the importance of alarm communication in many insects 23 , 37 , 58 . In termites, any disturbance triggers seemingly erratic movements leading to effective defensive responses 34 – 36 , 59 , 60 , and enhanced protection of the colony due to the increase of the soldiers-to-worker ratio at the place of disturbance. This strategy makes the whole group unpalatable even to specialized vertebrate predators 61 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In spite of the crucial importance of alarm communication for termite colony survival, only fragmented reports have hitherto been published about this topic, most of which focused on either vibroacoustic or pheromonal communication of isolated species 27 , 36 , 59 , 60 , 63 – 71 . The evolutionary trajectories of alarm signals, and their significance within complex ecological constraints across extant termite lineages, have not previously been investigated, and there is no report on alarm communication in soil-feeding termites, which represents over half of termite diversity 70 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alarm communication predates eusociality in termites

et al. 2023

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Termites (Blattodea: Isoptera) have evolved specialized defensive strategies for colony protection. Alarm communication enables workers to escape threats while soldiers are recruited to the source of disturbance. Here, we study the vibroacoustic and chemical alarm communication in the wood roach Cryptocercus and in 20 termite species including seven of the nine termite families, all life-types, and all feeding and nesting habits. Our multidisciplinary approach shows that vibratory alarm signals represent an ethological synapomorphy of termites and Cryptocercus. In contrast, chemical alarms have evolved independently in several cockroach groups and at least twice in termites. Vibroacoustic alarm signaling patterns are the most complex in Neoisoptera, in which they are often combined with chemical signals. The alarm characters correlate to phylogenetic position, food type and hardness, foraging area size, and nesting habits. Overall, species of Neoisoptera have developed the most sophisticated communication system amongst termites, potentially contributing to their ecological success.

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“…Termites, being small, herbivorous and social insects, are known to employ vibrational signals. Alarm signals, for example, are well reported (Howse 1964b(Howse , 1965Stuart 1969;Kirchner et al 1994;Connétable et al 1999;Röhrig et al 1999). Recently, it was discovered that drywood termites in the genus Cryptotermes use vibrations to assess wood food volume (Evans et al 2005) with the suggestion that the frequency response of the wood (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Termites live in a material world: exploration of their ability to differentiate between food sources

Inta

Lai

et al. 2007

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Drywood termites are able to assess wood size using vibratory signals, although the exact mechanism behind this assessment ability is not known. Important vibratory characteristics such as the modal frequencies of a wooden block depend on its geometry and boundary conditions; however, they are also dependent on the material characteristics of the block, such as mass, density and internal damping. We report here on choice experiments that tested the ability of the drywood termite Cryptotermes secundus to assess wooden block size using a solid wooden block paired with a composite block, the latter made of either wood and aluminium or wood and rubber. Each composite block was constructed to match mass or low-frequency vibratory modes (i.e. fundamental frequency) of the solid wooden block. The termites always chose the blocks with more wood; they moved to the solid wooden blocks usually within a day and then tunnelled further into the solid wooden block by the end of the experiment. Termites offered composite blocks of wood and rubber matched for mass were the slowest to show a preference for the solid wooden block and this preference was the least definitive of any treatment, which indicated that mass and/or damping may play a role in food assessment. This result clearly shows that the termites were not fooled by composite blocks matched for mass or frequency, which implies that they probably employ more than a single simple measure in their food assessment strategy. This implies a degree of sophistication in their ability to assess their environment hitherto unknown. The potential importance of alternative features in the vibrational signals is discussed.

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Cited by 44 publications

References 8 publications

Termites assess wood size by using vibration signals

Termites assess wood size by using vibration signals

Alarm communication predates eusociality in termites

Termites live in a material world: exploration of their ability to differentiate between food sources

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