Tunnelling behaviour of the Asian subterranean termite in heterogeneous soils: presence of cues in the foraging area

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae): Exploitation of equivalent food resources with different forms of placement

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Nutrients affecting food choice by the pest subterranean termite Coptotermes gestroi (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Soldiers initiate foraging activities in the subterranean termite, Heterotermes tenuis

Caste polyethism has been recorded in some termite species, however the foraging behavior of subterranean termites remains poorly known. Heterotermes tenuis Hagen (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) is a subterranean termite that is native to Brazil and is an agricultural and urban pest. The aim of this study was to investigate which caste acts as scouts when searching for food sources and determinate the percentages of each caste present in the foraging territories of field colonies of H. tenuis. Our results showed no significant differences among the caste proportions present in the foraging territories of the three colonies studied in the field. Laboratory experiments showed that minor soldiers were the most frequent initiators of foraging activities. This result suggests that the exploratory phase of the foraging behavior may be regulated by the number of soldiers present in the foraging territories of each colony.

Analysis of the workers head transcriptome of the Asian subterranean termite, Coptotermes gestroi

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Biological activity of limonoids from meliaceae against a subterranean termite (Heterotermes tenuis) (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

Recent studies, proposed to obtain active compounds against termites (Heterotermes tenuis Hagen, as a model) have showed that attention could be driven to the limonoids, because they present high insecticidal activity against several insects. In this work, the limonoids nimbolin-A, 1,2- hydroxyamoorastatone, mexicanolide, cedrelone and 1,2-dihydrocedrelone were tested in order to verify their potential for the control of H. tenuis workers. The results indicated that cedrelone and 1,2-dihydrocedrelone are the limonoids with higher antifeeding activity, followed by 12-hydroxyamoorastatone, mexicanolide and nimbolin-A.

Dynamics of foraging and recruitment behavior in the Asian subterranean termite Coptotermes gestroi (Rhinotermitidae)

The present study investigated the trail-following behavior of the subterranean termite Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann Rhinotermitidae) under laboratory conditions. The results showed that workers were the first to initiate the exploration to the food source. When food was discovered they returned to the nest laying a trail for recruiting nestmates to the food source. In this situation, workers always traveled significantly faster when returning from the arenas. Both workers and soldiers were recruited to the food source; however, the soldier/worker proportion was higher during the first phase of the recruitment. When no food was available, the number of recruited nestmates and the speed on their way back to the nest were significantly lower. The results also showed that scout foragers always laid trail pheromones when entering into unknown territories, and that chemical signals found in the food could induce workers of C. gestroi to increase their travel speed. Copyright © 2012 Alberto Arab et al.

Endecous apterus: A new species of cave cricket from northeast Brazil, with comments on the use of subterranean habitats by Luzarinae crickets (Orthoptera: Grylloidea: Phalangopsidae: Luzarinae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Foraging in subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae): how do Heterotermes tenuis and Coptotermes gestroi behave when they locate equivalent food resources?

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Paraquat-loaded alginate/chitosan nanoparticles: Preparation, characterization and soil sorption studies

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Coptotermes gestroi (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in Brazil: possible origins inferred by mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase II gene sequences

The Asian subterranean termite, Coptotermes gestroi, originally from northeast India through Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Indonesian archipelago, is a major termite pest introduced in several countries around the world, including Brazil. We sequenced the mitochondrial COII gene from individuals representing 23 populations. Phylogenetic analysis of COII gene sequences from this and other studies resulted in two main groups: (1) populations of Cleveland (USA) and four populations of Malaysia and (2) populations of Brazil, four populations of Malaysia, and one population from each of Thailand, Puerto Rico, and Key West (USA). Three new localities are reported here, considerably enlarging the distribution of C. gestroi in Brazil: Campo Grande (state of Mato Grosso do Sul), Itajai (state of Santa Catarina), and Porto Alegre (state of Rio Grande do Sul).

Fauna de formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) atraídas a armadilhas subterrâneas em áreas de Mata Atlântica

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)