Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T06:12:30.339Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Feeding site selection by workers of the Formosan subterranean termite Coptotermes formosanus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) – a re-analysis of field data from a mark–recapture study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

N.-Y. Su  and
P.N. Scherer
N.-Y. Su*
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology and Nematology Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 3205 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314, USA
P.N. Scherer
Affiliation:
Dow AgroSciences, 9330 Zionsville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268, USA
*
*Fax: 954 475 4125 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

During the early stages of the development of termite baits, dyed paper was placed in specified feeding stations to ascertain whether a slow-acting toxicant could be placed in a few bait stations to be delivered to the entire colony members of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki. Feeding frequency data, as measured by the dye concentration in individual termites, suggested the absence of feeding site fidelity. However, these results were often misinterpreted as random movement of termites that were marked and released for population estimate studies, or the random search of food in soil by subterranean termites. A computer simulation program was constructed to re-examine this feeding frequency data, and confirmed the earlier conclusion that the lack of feeding site fidelity was the most likely explanation for the data.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 93 , Issue 5 , September 2003 , pp. 467 - 473
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anon. (1999) S-Plus 2000 programmer's guide. p.868. Data Analysis Products Division, Insightful Corp., Seattle, Washington.Google Scholar
Campora, C.E. & Grace, J.K. (2001) Tunnel orientation and search pattern sequence of the Formosan subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 94, 1193–1199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, J. & Henderson, G. (1997) Tunnel and shelter tube convergence of Formosan subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in the laboratory. Sociobiology 30, 305–318.Google Scholar
Evans, T.A. (2002) Tunnel specificity and forager movement in subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 92, 193–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henderson, G., Sharpe-McCollum, K. & Dunaway, C. (1998) Subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) attack on ground monitors around an apartment complex in fixed pattern placements versus conducive placements. Florida Entomologist 81, 461–464.Google Scholar
Lenz, M., Gleeson, P.V., Miller, L.R, & Abbey, H.M. (1996) How predictive are laboratory experiments for assessing the effects of chitin synthesis inhibitors (CSI) on field colonies of termites? – a comparison of laboratory and field data from Australian mound-building species of termite. International Research Group on Wood Preservation, Stockholm, Sweden. Document No. IRG/WP 96–10143. 11 pp.Google Scholar
Peters, B.C., & Fitzgerald, C.J. (1999) Field evaluation of the effectiveness of three timber species as bait stakes and the bait toxicant hexaflumuron in eradicating Coptotermes acinaciformis (Froggatt) (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Sociobiology 33, 227–238.Google Scholar
Puche, H. & Su, N.-Y. (2001) Application of fractal analysis for tunnel systems of subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) under laboratory conditions. Environmental Entomology 30, 545–549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robson, S.K., Lesniak, M.G., Kothandapani, R.V., Traniello, J.F.A., Thorne, B.L. & Fourcassie, V. (1995) Non-random search geometry in subterranean termites. Naturwissenschaften 82, 526–528.Google Scholar
Sheets, J.L., Karr, L.L., & Dripps, J.E. (2000) Kinetics of uptake, clearance, transfer, and metabolism of hexaflumuron by eastern subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 93, 871–877.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Su, N.-Y. (1994) Field evaluation of a hexaflumuron bait for population suppression of subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 87, 389–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Su, N.-Y. (2003) Baits as a tool for population control of the Formosan subterranean termite. Sociobiology 41, 177–192.Google Scholar
Su, N.-Y., Tamashiro, M., Yates, J.R., Lai, P.Y., & Haverty, M.I. (1983) A dye, Sudan Red 7B, as a marking material for foraging studies with the Formosan subterranean termite. Sociobiology 8, 91–97.Google Scholar
Su, N.-Y., Tamashiro, M., Yates, J.R., Lai, P.Y., & Haverty, M.I. (1984) Foraging behavior of the Formosan subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Environmental Entomology 13, 1466–1470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorne, B.L., Russek-Cohen, E., Forschler, B.T., Breish, N.L. & Traniello, J.F.A. (1996) Evaluation of mark-release-recapture methods for estimating forager population size of subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) colonies. Environmental Entomology 25, 938–951.Google Scholar