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Caste‐biased locomotor activities in isolated termites
Author(s) -
Shimoji Hiroyuki,
Mizumoto Nobuaki,
Oguchi Kohei,
Dobata Shigeto
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/phen.12315
Subject(s) - caste , biology , eusociality , division of labour , identity (music) , isolation (microbiology) , ecology , zoology , evolutionary biology , hymenoptera , philosophy , linguistics , physics , economics , acoustics , microbiology and biotechnology , market economy
Eusocial insects are characterized by a well‐developed division of labour among castes. Although the successful division of labour should stem from behavioural differentiation depending on caste identity, caste‐specific intrinsic behavioural characteristics might be masked by social interactions within colonies. The present study explores caste‐specific intrinsic locomotive activities of termites by quantifying them in isolation. We track individual movement trajectories of the damp‐wood termite Hodotermopsis sjostedti over 30 min and extract individual locomotion parameters. Multivariate statistical analyses reveal significant differences among castes: soldiers move more actively than workers and neotenic reproductives. The morphometric data of test individuals indicate that locomotor activities reflected caste identity more strongly compared with quantitative morphological variations among individuals. We find that the different locomotor activities of soldiers compared with those of neotenics and workers probably reflect their physiological differentiation. The present study provides a basis for a deeper understanding of the roles of individual locomotor activities in social behaviours.