Termites fumigate their nests with naphthalene

Chen, J.; Henderson, Gregg; Grimm, Casey C.; Lloyd, Steven W.; Laine, Roger A.

doi:10.1038/33305

Cited by 108 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In Coptotermes, secretions are composed of various compounds such as simple hydrocarbons, aromatic compounds, ketones, alcohols, and ceramides that may act as fumigants (Chen et al 1998(Chen et al , 1999Zhang et al 2006;Ohta et al 2007), and the presence of Coptotermes formosanus soldiers has been shown to inhibit the formation of additional soldiers Raina 2003, 2005). This primer effect produced by the soldiers requires direct contact between the soldiers and the undifferentiated individuals (Dong et al 2009).…”

Section: Communication In Defense and Alarm Behaviormentioning

confidence: 96%

Communication and Social Regulation in Termites

Bagnères

Hanus

2015

Social Recognition in Invertebrates

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Communication In Defense and Alarm Behaviormentioning

confidence: 96%

Communication and Social Regulation in Termites

Bagnères

Hanus

2015

Social Recognition in Invertebrates

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Petroleum hydrocarbons produced during diagenesis of organic-rich sediments and oil emitted by nearsurface hydrocarbon seepages constitute a natural source of hydrocarbons in sediments. Some other hydrocarbons of biogenic origin are produced in living organisms such as bacteria, phytoplankton, plants and metazoans (Chen et al, 1998;Fischer-Romero et al, 1996;Tissot & Welte, 1984). Furthermore, in addition to hydrocarbons of biogeochemical or biogenic origin, anthropogenic activities, such as offshore production, transportation or tanker accidents, municipal or industrial wastes and runoff, are responsible for additional inputs of petroleum hydrocarbons into the marine environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anaerobic utilization of toluene by marine alpha- and gammaproteobacteria reducing nitrate

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aromatic hydrocarbons are among the main constituents of crude oil and represent a major fraction of biogenic hydrocarbons. Anthropogenic influences as well as biological production lead to exposure and accumulation of these toxic chemicals in the water column and sediment of marine environments. The ability to degrade these compounds in situ has been demonstrated for oxygen-and sulphate-respiring marine micro-organisms. However, if and to what extent nitratereducing bacteria contribute to the degradation of hydrocarbons in the marine environment and if these organisms are similar to their well-studied freshwater counterparts has not been investigated thoroughly. Here we determine the potential of marine prokaryotes from different sediments of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea to couple nitrate reduction to the oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons. Nitrate-dependent oxidation of toluene as an electron donor in anoxic enrichment cultures was elucidated by analyses of nitrate, nitrite and dinitrogen gas, accompanied by cell proliferation. The metabolically active members of the enriched communities were identified by RT-PCR of their 16S rRNA genes and subsequently quantified by fluorescence in situ hybridization. In all cases, toluene-grown communities were dominated by members of the Gammaproteobacteria, followed in some enrichments by metabolically active alphaproteobacteria as well as members of the Bacteroidetes. From these enrichments, two novel denitrifying toluenedegrading strains belonging to the Gammaproteobacteria were isolated. Two additional toluenedegrading denitrifying strains were isolated from sediments from the Black Sea and the North Sea. These isolates belonged to the Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria. Serial dilutions series with marine sediments indicated that up to 2.2¾10 4 cells cm -3 were able to degrade hydrocarbons with nitrate as the electron acceptor. These results demonstrated the hitherto unrecognized capacity of alpha-and gammaproteobacteria in marine sediments to oxidize toluene using nitrate.

show abstract

“…Social insects were described as ''gland factories'' (Billen and Morgan, 1998) and many of their antiseptic products have been deeply investigated in the last decades. In ants, the metapleural gland produces secretions with antiseptic and antifungal activity (Hölldobler and Wilson, 1990) while termites secrete strong antimicrobial compounds from their faecal pellets or from soldier frontal glands (Chen et al, 1998;Rosengaus et al, 2000). Venom glands of various ants, wasps and bees produce several compounds with antimicrobial activity (Park et al, 1995;Orivel et al, 2001;Storey et al, 1991;Turillazzi, 2006) representing one of the most important source of antimicrobial substances in social Hymenoptera (Kuhn-Nentwig, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From individual to collective immunity: The role of the venom as antimicrobial agent in the Stenogastrinae wasp societies

Baracchi

Mazza

Turillazzi

2012

Journal of Insect Physiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tSociality is associated with an increased risk of disease transmission and one of the first defense of the insect colonies is represented by antimicrobial secretions. In many eusocial hymenopteran species venom glands represent one of the most important source of antimicrobial substances. It is known that in highly eusocial species the venom is spread on both the cuticle of insects and the comb, thus becoming a component of the so called ''social immunity''. So far, it is never been ascertained whether this phenomenon is also present in more primitively eusocial and incipiently eusocial groups. Using incipiently eusocial hover wasps as model, we demonstrate that venom is present on insect cuticles and that it strongly acts against microorganisms. By contrast, the nest, regardless of materials, does not represent a ''medium'' where the venom is deposited by wasps in order to act as a social antiseptic weapon. Our findings discussed in an evolutionary perspective indicate that a certain degree of sociality or a sufficient number of individuals in an insect society are thresholds to be reached for the rise of complex and efficient forms of collective and social immunity as mechanisms of resistance to diseases.

show abstract

Termites fumigate their nests with naphthalene

Cited by 108 publications

References 1 publication

Communication and Social Regulation in Termites

Communication and Social Regulation in Termites

Anaerobic utilization of toluene by marine alpha- and gammaproteobacteria reducing nitrate

From individual to collective immunity: The role of the venom as antimicrobial agent in the Stenogastrinae wasp societies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About