Journal Title
Title of Journal: Insect Soc
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Abbravation: Insectes Sociaux
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Authors: T Chouvenc M Basille NY Su
Publish Date: 2014/09/06
Volume: 62, Issue: 1, Pages: 23-29
Abstract
In a termite colony the incipient phase is the most critical part of the life of the colony The quality of the investment in the first offspring by the primary reproductives may determine the rate of success of the colony to survive the first year and its growth rate in the following years However termite colonies possess a physiological constraint forcing the group to maintain a relatively fixed caste proportion During the development of the incipient colony there is therefore a conflict for the group on the developmental pathways of larvae into workers or soldiers On the one hand the more workers produced the more work forces would be available to provide for the primary reproductives the brood and the nest maintenance overall nurturing capacity On the other hand some larvae must develop into soldiers to maintain the caste proportion reducing the potential number of workers Using incipient colonies of Coptotermes gestroi Wasmann we investigated the cost of maintaining the soldier proportion over the growth of the colony within the first year Our results showed that an incipient colony maintains a stable soldier proportion regardless of the stress imposed The resources redirected into the replacement of soldiers not only reduced the total number of workers but it also reduced the overall growth of the colony by delaying the development of the remaining eggs Our observations suggest that in termite incipient colonies because of physiological constraints the maintenance of the soldier proportion overrides the development of the colony
Keywords:
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Other Papers In This Journal:
- Mating frequency and maternity of males in Melipona mondury (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
- Elevational and geographic variation in army ant swarm raid rates
- Task allocation and reproductive skew in social mass provisioning carpenter bees in relation to age and size
- Size and composition of swarming colonies in Provespa anomala (Hymenoptera, Vespidae), a nocturnal social wasp
- Der Einfluss von Umweltbedingungen auf die Bildung von Gynandromorphen bei der Honigbiene Apis mellifica L.
- Bumble bee olfactory information flow and contact-based foraging activation
- Sexual interactions and nestmate recognition in invasive populations of Polistes dominulus wasps
- Regional trends and preliminary results on the local expansion rate in the invasive garden ant, Lasius neglectus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)
- Behavioral defense strategies of the stingless bee, Austroplebeia australis , against the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida
- Alkylpyrazines: alarm pheromone components of the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)
- Olfactory associative learning in two African stingless bee species ( Meliponula ferruginea and M. bocandei , Meliponini)
- Caste developmental pathways in colonies of Coptotermes lacteus (Froggatt) headed by primary reproductives (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae)
- The distribution of weaver ant pheromones on host trees
- Vision-based ability of an ant-mimicking jumping spider to discriminate between models, conspecific individuals and prey
- The influence of soil temperature on the nesting cycle of the halictid bee Lasioglossum malachurum
- Cooperative transport in ants: a review of proximate mechanisms
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