Alates of the termite Reticulitermes flaviceps feed independently during their 5-month residency in the natal colony

Khan, Zahid; Zhang, M.; Meng, Yufeng; Zhao, Jinshan; Kong, Xiaohong; Su, Xiaoqing; Xing, Lianxi

doi:10.1007/s00040-019-00698-9

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 75 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This species, however, is unique regarding the time lag between the emergence of alates and flight dispersal. Unlike other species, whose alates disperse as soon as they emerge, alates of this species emerge in November, wait within a nest over the winter, and fly to disperse from late February to April next coming year (see Table S1 for observational data in this study, and Table S2 for the summary of all literature information), similar to R. flaviceps (Khan et al, 2019). During the waiting period, alates are ready for mating behavior and colony foundation (Supplementary Text, Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

The significance of social interactions in synchronized swarming flight in a termite

Mizumoto,

Nozaki

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In social insect colonies, individuals of working caste coordinate their actions to manage various collective tasks. Such collective behaviors are observed not only in working castes but also in reproductives. During certain seasons, newly emerged winged reproductives (alates) fly from the nest to disperse and find mating partners in a synchronized manner. Although this “swarming” behavior is one of the collective behaviors that involve the greatest number of individuals in social insects, underlying social interactions remain unexplored. Here, we show that synchronized flight among colony members results from collective decision-making. Our simple simulation model suggests that social interactions in a large group of alates enable synchronized flight within a nest under fluctuating environmental conditions. This model is supported by empirical experiments using a termiteReticulitermes kanmonensis. Under the semi-field environment with fluctuating temperatures, alates within the same colony synchronized their dispersal flight under higher air temperatures, while dispersal flight was suppressed under lower temperatures. Furthermore, termites could synchronize their dispersal flights even under laboratory conditions with constant temperature, indicating that environmental cues are not always necessary for synchronization. In either case, higher synchronization happened with a larger number of alates. All these results demonstrate that both environmental and social factors interplay to enable the synchronized swarming flight of social insects.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 95%

The significance of social interactions in synchronized swarming flight in a termite

Mizumoto,

Nozaki

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, termite species have a wide diversity of feeding behaviours, especially they consume cellulose of woods, tree farmings, structural timbers, decompose organic animal matters in different degrees and cause severe losses in the billions of dollars per year due to direct damage and chemical control costs worldwide (Su et al, 2004;Cameron and Whiting, 2007;Ghesini et al, 2011;Lim and Forschler, 2012;Perdereau et al, 2013;Arango et al, 2017;Dutto et al, 2018;Govorushko, 2019;Khan et al, 2019, Khan et al, 2021a. Many gut-associated microorganisms provide essential amino acids to intestines of termite R. flavipes (Fisher et al, 2007;Ayayee et al, 2015;Waidele et al, 2016;Arango et al, 2017), decompose cellulose into nutrients through proper metabolic pathway for both of them and also return nitrogen and carbon to the environment as fertilizers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…flaviceps is endemic to China and distributed in many tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of China (Veeresh et al, 1990;Mo et al, 2005;Li et al, 2009Li et al, , 2011a. It is now found the most destructive and notorious subterranean termite pest in Reticulitermes throughout China and responsible for structural damage (Li et al, 2011b(Li et al, , 2016cRust and Su, 2012;Chouvenc et al, 2015;Veera-Singham et al, 2017;Khan et al, 2019). The subterranean termite R. chinensis is an important termite species that is distributed in Beijing, Tianjin, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Huanggang, Chongqing, Changsha and the drainage range of the Yangtse River in China (Wei et al, 2007;Huang et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comprehensive review on the documented characteristics of four Reticulitermes termites (Rhinotermitidae, Blattodea) of China

Khan

Bawazeer

et al. 2024

Braz. J. Biol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Termites are known as social insects worldwide. Presently in China 473 species, 44 genera and 4 families of termites have been reported. Of them, 111 Reticulitermes species are widely spread in different zones of China. The dispersion flight season of these Chinese Reticulitermes species are usually started from February to June, but in some regions different species are distributed, sharing their boundaries and having overlapping flight seasons. These reasons become important sources of hybridization between two different heterospecific populations of termites. It was confirmed that the fertilized eggs and unfertilized eggs of some Reticulitermes termites have the capacity of cleavage. While the unfertilized eggs of R. aculabialis, R. chinensis and R. labralis cleaved normally and the only R. aculabialis unfertilized eggs develop in embryos. While, the R. flaviceps and R. chinensis were observed with their abnormal embryonic development, and not hatching of eggs parthenogenetically. They were reported more threatening to Chinese resources as they propagate with parthenogenesis, hybridization and sexual reproduction. Eggshell and macrophiles of eggs play important roles in species identification and control. Although, they are severe pests and cause a wide range of damages to wooden structures and products in homes, buildings, building materials, trees, crops, and forests in China’s Mainland.

show abstract

“…Lower termites can cause serious structural and agricultural damage to humans, as they only consume grass and wood, compared to higher termites that can consume soil and a range of other plant materials [1][2][3]. Under certain conditions, when males are unavailable, unfertilized eggs of a few termite species are able to develop into new female offspring via facultative parthenogenesis [3,4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Embryonic Development of Parthenogenetic and Sexual Eggs in Lower Termites

Peng

Khan

Liu

et al. 2023

Insects

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Worldwide, termites are one of few social insects. In this research, the stages of embryonic development in the parthenogenetic and sexual eggs of Reticulitermes aculabialis and R. flaviceps were observed and described. In R. flaviceps, the egg development of the FF and FM groups happened during the early phases of development, whereas in R. aculabialis, this appeared mainly during the late phase of development. The variance in the number of micropyles between the R. flaviceps FF colony type and the R. aculabialis FF colony type was statistically significant. Five stages of egg development were found in both types of R. aculabialis but only the sexual eggs of R. flaviceps. In R. flaviceps, 86% of the parthenogenetic eggs stopped growing during the blastoderm development, with the yolk cell assembling frequently in the center of the egg. According to the results of the single-cell transcriptome sequencing, we investigated the egg-to-larval expression level of genes (pka, map2k1, mapk1/3, hgk, mkp, and pax6) and indicated that the levels of essential gene expression in RaFF were considerably higher than in RfFF (p < 0.05). We also discovered that the oocyte cleavage rate in the FF colony type was considerably lower in R. flaviceps compared to R. aculabialis, which gave rise to a smaller number of mature oocytes in R. flaviceps. During ovulation in both species, oocytes underwent activation and one or two cleavage events, but the development of unfertilized eggs ceased in R. flaviceps. It was shown that termite oocyte and embryonic development were heavily influenced by genes with significant expressions. Results from the databases KEGG, COG, and GO unigenes revealed the control of numerous biological processes. This study is the first to complete a database of parthenogenetic and sexual eggs of R. flaviceps and R. aculabialis.

show abstract

Alates of the termite Reticulitermes flaviceps feed independently during their 5-month residency in the natal colony

Cited by 7 publications

References 75 publications

The significance of social interactions in synchronized swarming flight in a termite

The significance of social interactions in synchronized swarming flight in a termite

A comprehensive review on the documented characteristics of four Reticulitermes termites (Rhinotermitidae, Blattodea) of China

Embryonic Development of Parthenogenetic and Sexual Eggs in Lower Termites

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About