Surface irregularity induced-tunneling behavior of the formosan subterranean termite.
Subterranean termites forage from place to place by tunneling through soil. In order to examine termite-tunneling responses to external factors, we designed a square arena that contains five introduction chambers connected with narrow paths, which was filled with sand. Triangle-shaped indentation with width W and height H was provided as surface irregularity on the sand facing the introduction chambers by using templates. After termites were introduced into the chambers, we measured elapsed time, tau, for a tunnel to reach the point at 3 mm away from the apex of the irregularity. We found that for W=0 mm (the absence of irregularity), termites (Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki) did not tunnel for approximately 7h, whereas, for W=1, 2, 3, and 4 mm, they exhibited the tunneling behavior within 20 min. The result indicated that the presence of surface irregularity is essential to induce termite tunneling. In addition, we found that W was correlated with tau, whereas H did not influence tau. This was briefly discussed in the context of individual movement behavior.
Lee
Sang-Hee
SH
Department of Entomology and Nematology, Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 3205 College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314, USA. sunchaos@pusan.ac.kr
Yang
Rou-Ling
RL
Su
Nan-Yao
NY
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D007300:Insect Control / Q000379:methods; D020049:Isoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
D012822:Silicon Dioxide