Light alters activity but does not disturb tandem coordination of termite mating pairs

Abstract

Group-living animals coordinate their movements via local interactions, which can be mediated by visual, tactile, and chemical communication channels. Termite mating pairs form tandems with one male imago following one female imago in a synchronised way to explore the environment and search for a nesting site. Imagoes are the only developmental stage with compound eyes in termites, but the role of vision during tandem runs remains unknown. Here, we investigate the movements during tandem runs of two termite species, Coptotermes formosanus, which swarms during the night, and Reticulitermes speratus, which swarms during the day. We performed the experiments with light and in complete darkness. We found that females and males of both species adjust their speed to each other to form a stable tandem and reunite efficiently upon separation, with or without light. However, the activity was dependent on light conditions in the diurnal R. speratus, in which termites were more active with light. On the other hand, the nocturnal C. formosanus was mostly insensitive to light environments, with termites being slightly more active in darkness. Our results suggest that termites can use light as an environmental cue to start forming mating pairs but not as means to locate mates or coordinate their movements.

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

“…5; Fig. 1 of (Mizumoto and Bourguignon, 2022)). Similarly, worker-alates interactions also play an important role in swarming among ants (Hölldobler and Wilson, 1990).…”

Extinct and extant termites reveal the fidelity of behavior fossilization in amber

“…We used the dataset of natural tandem runs in C. formosanus generated by ref. 45 as a control. The experiments were performed using individuals collected on the same day and in the same manner as for the entrapment experiment.…”