Caste differentiation and growth of laboratory colonies of Reticulitermes urbis (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae)

Ghesini, Silvia; Marini, Mario

doi:10.1007/s00040-009-0025-1

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…Ghesini and Marini (2009) observed caste differentiation and colony growth in different laboratory colonies of the newly described species R. urbis (Bagnères et al 2003;Uva et al 2004b). Ghesini and Marini (2009) also showed that nymphs are not able to found viable colonies on their own; they need workers. In colonies containing workers, newly emerged reproductives were eliminated by workers, who allowed only one pair to develop.…”

Section: Sex Recognition Reproduction and Fertility Signalsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Communication and Social Regulation in Termites

Bagnères

Hanus

2015

Social Recognition in Invertebrates

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Communication and social regulation are among the distinguishing features of termites: they are part of all basic aspects of termite biology, from ontogeny and caste differentiation to social behavior and cooperation. As in other highly social taxa, communication in termites predominantly relies on a complex network of chemical signals, which are complemented by vibration-based signals. In contrast to other social taxa, the role of visual cues is negligible. In this chapter, we review the recent literature on the different components that make up termite communication and social regulation systems by tracing termite evolution and examining the role played by different factors, such as sex and caste, and different behaviors, such as those related to defense, nestmate recognition, egg and brood care, foraging, and nest building, among others. The main characteristics of termites are compared to those of other social insects in the introduction. In the first section, we review the most important researches on termite communication and social regulation that are related to social activities in the basal phylogenetic lineages, and in the Termitidae (higher termites), the most advanced and diversified family. The abundant literature on the best studied genera, Reticulitermes, Coptotermes, and Heterotermes, which are considered for the purposes of this chapter to be intermediate termites, is reviewed and discussed separately in the second section. By using this approach, we seek to describe communication and social regulation systems in basal and primitive termites and illustrate how they have evolved to become more complex in intermediate and higher termites.

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Section: Sex Recognition Reproduction and Fertility Signalsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Communication and Social Regulation in Termites

Bagnères

Hanus

2015

Social Recognition in Invertebrates

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“…This study demonstrated that in R. labralis , AR were derived from last instar nymphs, and the AR would thus fall into the category of secondary reproductives. The reproductives with light brown pigmentation and unsclerotized wings have been reported in R. urbis by Ghesini and Marini (2009) . However, Neoh et al (2010) suggested that the AR of M .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…(2010) suggested that the AR in Macrotermes gilvus (Termitidae) developed from alate adults with torn wings and retained at the original nest as secondary reproductives. However, in R eticulitermes urbis and R. labralis , the AR with floppy wings develop from nymphs and have the secondary reproductive function ( Ghesini and Marini 2009 , Xing et al 2015 ). Field and laboratory colonies of Reticulitermes contain a large number of secondary reproductives derived from nymphs, in which the secondary reproductives play important roles in colony growth ( Huang et al 2013 , Wu et al 2013 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development of Adultoid Reproductives and Brachypterous Neotenic Reproductives From the Last Instar Nymphs inReticulitermes labralis(Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae): A Comparative Study

Wang

Liu

et al. 2015

J Insect Sci

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Secondary reproductives develop primarily from nymphs. However, they have been rarely studied; in particular, the development of adultoid reproductives (AR) with floppy wings is still unclear. In this study, the change in juvenile hormone (JH) levels, vitellogenin gene expression, and oogenesis during the development of AR and brachypterous neotenic reproductives (BN) from the last instar nymphs of Reticulitermes labralis are investigated and compared. The results showed that the AR derived from the last instar nymphs by molting, and they were more similar to neotenic reproductives in morphology. In addition, the paired AR were not able to survive in the absence of workers. In R. labralis, the process of the last instar nymphs developing into AR and BN took an increase in JH level as a starting point. The JH level of the last instar nymphs molting into BN was approximately 1.5-fold higher than that of the AR. Additionally, The JHIII level of BN peaked on day 5, and that of AR peaked on day 10, which induced the onset of vitellogenesis in BN and AR, respectively. After molting, the vitellogenin gene expression levels of both BN and AR initially increased and then declined, and the expression levels in the BN were significantly higher than those in the AR. In addition, the oocytes of BN matured earlier than those of the AR, and the number of eggs laid by the BN was higher than the number laid by the AR. Our results demonstrate that, in R. labralis, the last instar nymphs can develop into AR, which are significantly different from BN in their development.

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“…F-statistics and relatedness coefÞcients indicated that between 10 and 300 neotenics had interbred for several generations within the semiurbanized colonies in the SA population, whereas in urban areas (Bagnacavallo and St populations), only two neotenics had interbred for one generation. Ghesini and Marini (2009) found that 3 yr after setting up laboratory colonies, the majority of R. urbis colonies from the Italian population of Bagnacavallo contained two secondary reproductives, together with a few workers. However, the presence of a few neotenics within R. urbis colonies in urban areas was not in agreement with previous studies; Leniaud et al (2009) suggested that the Domè ne urban supercolony of R. urbis had characteristics similar to an invasive species, including a high number of active secondary reproductives.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colony Breeding Structure of the Invasive Termite <I>Reticulitermes urbis</I> (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

et al. 2013

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Invasive species cause severe environmental and economic problems. The invasive success of social insects often appears to be related to their ability to adjust their social organization to new environments. To gain a better understanding of the biology of invasive termites, this study investigated the social organization of the subterranean termite, Reticulitermes urbis, analyzing the breeding structure and the number of reproductives within colonies from three introduced populations. By using eight microsatellite loci to determine the genetic structure, it was found that all the colonies from the three populations were headed by both primary reproductives (kings and queens) and secondary reproductives (neotenics) to form extended-family colonies. R. urbis appears to be the only Reticulitermes species with a social organization based solely on extended-families in both native and introduced populations, suggesting that there is no change in their social organization on introduction. F-statistics indicated that there were few neotenics within the colonies from urban areas, which did not agree with results from previous studies and field observations. This suggests that although several neotenics may be produced, only few become active reproductives. The results also imply that the invasive success of R. urbis may be based on different reproductive strategies in urban and semiurbanized areas. The factors influencing an individual to differentiate into a neotenic in Reticulitermes species are discussed.

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Caste differentiation and growth of laboratory colonies of Reticulitermes urbis (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae)

Cited by 12 publications

References 37 publications

Communication and Social Regulation in Termites

Communication and Social Regulation in Termites

The Development of Adultoid Reproductives and Brachypterous Neotenic Reproductives From the Last Instar Nymphs inReticulitermes labralis(Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae): A Comparative Study

Colony Breeding Structure of the Invasive Termite <I>Reticulitermes urbis</I> (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

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