Sand Moisture Preference, Disturbance Effects And Intra- And Interspecific Aggression In Microcerotermes Crassus Snyder (Blattodea: Termitidae)
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Date
2010
Authors
Nellie Wong, Su Chee
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
This thesis focuses on the ecological and behavioural aspects of
Microcerotermes crassus Snyder. Different substrates were tested to ensure the
highest survival of these termites under laboratory conditions and sand proved to be
very suitable. In sand, survival of termites was high and tunnelling activities can be
observed clearly. Wood consumption for the termites was relatively the same for all
substrates. The effects of different moisture levels (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25%) of a
sand substrate on the behaviour of M. crassus were evaluated and compared to C.
gestroi in a laboratory assay. Moisture content of sand affected wood consumption
and influenced the distribution of M. crassus across a moisture gradient. Changing
the moisture parameters also affected the location preference of C. gestroi but the
effect on wood consumption was not significant. Nonetheless, M. crassus and C.
gestroi showed a similar distribution pattern of association with particular moisture
levels. Comparative studies showed that M. crassus was less aggressive as less
tunnelling activity was recorded. Tunnels built by C. gestroi were highly branched
and wide, whereas M. crassus built tunnels that were more narrow and less branched.
When termite colonies from the same or different species interact, wide range of
agonistic behaviours can occur. Remarkably, no aggressive behaviours were
displayed by M. crassus when placed in different colonies of the same species and no
or low mortality was recorded. In contrast, various aggressive behaviours were
displayed in the interspecific study, resulting in a high mortality rate in most of the encounters. Encounters between M. crassus with termites of the same or different
species and with other insects such as ants may also result in fighting and
subsequently carcasses may be left at feeding sites. Moreover, M. crassus may
encounter other invertebrate carcasses such as millipedes and wood lice that can be
found within their nests, at feeding sites around buildings, etc. Ten factors were
evaluated on the behaviour of M. crassus. The distribution of M. crassus was
recorded between treated and untreated areas on day 1 and day 6 post-treatment.
Observations show that disturbances or the presence of carcasses only deterred the
termites temporarily. However, prolonged treatment particularly with crushed C.
gestroi showed that termites avoided the treated area even at 6 days post-treatment.
Survival was also lowest in dishes treated with crushed C. gestroi. Termites
consumed less wood in the dishes containing or treated with crushed conspecifics
(workers or soldiers of nestmates and non-nestmates), or with crushed C. gestroi.
Description
Keywords
Sand Moisture Preference, Disturbance Effects , Intra- And Interspecific Aggression In Microcerotermes Crassus Snyder