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Chemical and vibratory signals used in alarm communication in the termite Reticulitermes flavipes (Rhinotermitidae)

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Abstract

Termites have evolved diverse defence strategies to protect themselves against predators, including a complex alarm communication system based on vibroacoustic and/or chemical signals. In reaction to alarm signals, workers and other vulnerable castes flee away while soldiers, the specialized colony defenders, actively move toward the alarm source. In this study, we investigated the nature of alarm communication in the pest Reticulitermes flavipes. We found that workers and soldiers of R. flavipes respond to various danger stimuli using both vibroacoustic and chemical alarm signals. Among the danger stimuli, the blow of air triggered the strongest response, followed by crushed soldier head and light flash. The crushed soldier heads, which implied the alarm pheromone release, had the longest-lasting effect on the group behaviour, while the responses to other stimuli decreased quickly. We also found evidence of a positive feedback, as the release of alarm pheromones increased the vibratory communication among workers and soldiers. Our study demonstrates that alarm modalities are differentially expressed between castes, and that the response varies according to the nature of stimuli.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the project IGA A30/17 of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, by the project CIGA 20184303 of the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, and by the BQR 2014/2015 from the University Paris 13-SPC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6 Suchdol, Czech Republic

    O. Delattre, J. Šobotník, J. Synek & T. Bourguignon

  2. Institute of Research for Development, Sorbonne Universités, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris, U 242, 32 Avenue Henri Varagnat, 93140, Bondy, France

    O. Delattre & D. Sillam-Dussès

  3. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technická 2, 166 27, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    V. Jandák & O. Jiříček

  4. Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Flemingovo nám., 166 10, Prague, Czech Republic

    J. Cvačka

  5. Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan

    T. Bourguignon

  6. Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, EA4443, University Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 99 Avenue Jean-Baptiste Clément, 93430, Villetaneuse, France

    D. Sillam-Dussès

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  1. O. Delattre
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Correspondence to J. Šobotník.

Electronic supplementary material

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40_2018_682_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Fig. S1. Variation in speed-of-motion of workers (white bars) and soldiers (grey bars) in R. flavipes during a 6-minute period after the introduction of the stimulus in comparison to the respective controls. N=12 for each caste and stimulus. Box plots show the median and 25–75th percentiles. Whiskers show all data excluding outliers outside the 10th and 90th percentiles (circles). Statistical differences are shown for *P<0.05, **P<0.01 and ***P<0.001. Abbreviations: CO, control blank paper; CWH, crushed worker head sample; CSH, crushed soldier head sample (TIF 5332 KB)

40_2018_682_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Fig S2. Typical vibroacoustic responses of Reticulitermes flavipes termite groups obtained after the introduction of the stimulus (arrow). Abbreviations: CO, control blank paper; CWH, crushed worker head; CSH, crushed soldier head (TIF 12392 KB)

Video SV1. Survey of methods used to study vibroacoustic communication, and the basic modes of oscillatory movements performed by R. flavipes (MP4 5942 KB)

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Delattre, O., Šobotník, J., Jandák, V. et al. Chemical and vibratory signals used in alarm communication in the termite Reticulitermes flavipes (Rhinotermitidae). Insect. Soc. 66, 265–272 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-018-00682-9

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