Commercial gouache as a dye for termites in laboratory assays

Brunow, Guilherme S.; Souza, Og De; Miramontes, Octavio

doi:10.1590/s1516-89132005000500010

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…Within the arena, a single termite worker was inserted and its movement was tracked from above, continuously for 5-6 hours, with a closed-circuit video camera (Panasonic WV-BP334 B&W CCD) equipped with a macro lens (Fujinon YV5×2.7 R4B-SA2L). To allow for full contrast between termites and the background, thereby permitting appropriate video recording, termites were painted with non-toxic water soluble dye [14]. We also performed experiments in containers of diameters 140 mm, 90 mm and 55 mm and found that the size did not significantly altered the results here reported.…”

Section: Movement Recordingsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Lévy Flights and Self-Similar Exploratory Behaviour of Termite Workers: Beyond Model Fitting

et al. 2014

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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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Section: Movement Recordingsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Lévy Flights and Self-Similar Exploratory Behaviour of Termite Workers: Beyond Model Fitting

et al. 2014

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“…Additionally, termites marked with such a mixture and those unmarked survived alike, differently from those assayed with gouache alone by Brunow et al (2005). Survival of the latter was affected 300 min.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Special, harmless, and easy to apply, markers are therefore needed. Currently, two types of markers are used for termites: (i) histological stains such as Sudan Red 7B, Nile Blue A or Neutral Red (Su et al, 1991;Evans et al, 1998;Nobre et al, 2007) and (ii) topic markers: gouache (Brunow et al, 2005) and colored glue (Loreto et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A new approach to mark termites (Cornitermes cumulans (Kollar) Blattodea: Isoptera) for laboratory bioassays

et al. 2023

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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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“…Boron compounds might also enter into several locations because of their wide biological distribution and interact with the dye. A topically applied dye, such as commercial gouache (Brunow et al 2005), presents an alternative to ingested markers for short-term tests.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Horizontal transfer of boron by the Formosan subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki) after feedingon treated wood

Gentz

Grace

Mankowski

2008

HFSG

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The goal of the present study was to determine whether Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki workers exposed to boron-treated wood were capable of transferring quantifiable amounts of boron to non-exposed nestmates. This effect is called horizontal transfer. Borates are not repellent to termites, nor do they cause rapid mortality, making them excellent candidates for the study of horizontal transfer. In the present study, C. formosanus workers were collected from field colonies maintained in Honolulu, Hawaii and dyed with Sudan Red 7B over a 7-day period. These termites then underwent a 3-day exposure period to one of two types of composite board, either an experimental formulation of zinc borate and anhydrous boric acid or an untreated composite board. Treated termites were placed with an equal number of untreated termites for either 5 or 10 days; sham-dyed donors and recipients were used to control for possible effects of the dye. Horizontal transmission of boron and toxic effects were assessed based on termite wet weight, percent survival, and boron content. Horizontal transfer of boron was noted at both 5 and 10 days over those levels reported in untreated, field-caught termites from the same colony (ca. 7 mg boron g -1 termites). After 5 days, boron content was elevated in both dyed donor and recipient termites (ca. 92 and 38 mg boron g -1 dyed termites, respectively), as well as in undyed donors and recipients (ca. 84 and 30 mg boron g -1 undyed termites). The same pattern was observed after 10 days in both dyed donor and recipient termites (ca. 61 and 46 mg boron g -1 , respectively) and undyed donor and recipient termites (59 and 24 mg boron g -1 , respectively). Increased boron content of recipient termites after exposure to donor termites (fed on treated wood) demonstrated horizontal transfer of boron.

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Commercial gouache as a dye for termites in laboratory assays

Cited by 4 publications

References 9 publications

Lévy Flights and Self-Similar Exploratory Behaviour of Termite Workers: Beyond Model Fitting

Lévy Flights and Self-Similar Exploratory Behaviour of Termite Workers: Beyond Model Fitting

A new approach to mark termites (Cornitermes cumulans (Kollar) Blattodea: Isoptera) for laboratory bioassays

Horizontal transfer of boron by the Formosan subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki) after feedingon treated wood

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