Caste development systems of the Neotropical termite Constrictotermes cyphergaster (Isoptera, Termitidae)

Abstract

The caste developmental system of the Neotropical termite Constrictotermes cyphergaster was investigated in 12 natural colonies from the semi-arid Caatinga region of northeastern Brazil. Twelve measurements were taken of different body parts of the larvae, workers, presoldiers, soldiers, nymphs, and alates for morphometric analyses, and principal component analyses (PCA) were performed based on these parameters. The nymphal line comprised one larval instar, followed by five nymphal instars, and alates, in agreement with the developmental pattern described for Termitidae species. The apterous line included two larval instars, followed by workers, presoldiers, and soldiers. Both workers and soldiers were found to be monomorphic and composed only of male specimens, with only one instar phase each. C. cyphergaster, like most of the Nasutitermitinae, has only male soldiers. The presence of male workers, with only one instar, suggests a simplified system of differentiation in the apterous line of C. cyphergaster. These patterns, which had not previously been described for 'full nasute' Nasutitermitinae, are similar to the differentiation patterns of the 'mandibulate nasute' Cornitermes walkeri.

A review on self-destructive defense behaviors in social insects

“…In most termites, the soldiers are the primary defenders, specialized for fighting and, in some species, self-destructive tactics. The mechanistic basis of caste divergence in termites has been increasingly understood (Moura et al, 2011), but little is known about the development of the self-destructive autothysis apparatus. Several social aphid species produce nymphs that are differentiated from normal nymphs and are unable to further develop and function as a sterile soldier caste (Kutsukake et al, 2009), similar to ant and termite soldiers.…”

Bibliometrics on One of the Largest Termite Inventories in the Cerrado: "Studies on Termites From the Mato Grosso State, Brazil by Aga Mathews 1977"

“…Constrictotermes cyphergaster (Silvestri, 1901) was the most studied species (10 studies). Constrictotermes cyphergaster has been extensively studied in the ecosystems where it occurs, and studies citing "Mathews 1977" have regarded its interaction with other species residing the termite nest (Cunha & Brandão, 2000;Cunha et al, 2003;Cristaldo et al, 2012;Cristaldo et al, 2014), supplementary reproductives (Cunha & Brandão, 2002), eating habits (Moura et al, 2006a;Moura et al, 2006b), link between nest building and some plant species (Lima-Ribeiro et al, 2006;Silva et al, 2007;Bezerra-Gusmão et al, 2013), nest population and biomass (Vasconcellos et al, 2007), development of the caste system (Moura et al, 2011), and contribution to the carbon cycle (Bezerra-Gusmão et al, 2011).…”

Polymorphism in the neotropical termite Serritermes serrifer

“…The PCA creates new, composite variables ('components') which are uncorrelated with one another, reducing the dimensionality of the data and separating size and allometric relations. In termites with linear development the PCA biplot displays a single line of immatures (e.g., figure 2 in Koshikawa et al, 2002) whereas in termites with true workers it displays two distinct lines of immatures (e.g., figure 2 in Moura et al, 2011). The PCA was conducted using R v.3.2.2 (function 'prcomp', with the option 'scale=TRUE').…”