Agonistic bouts between groups of workers of Reticulitermes from northern California with distinctly different hydrocarbon phenotypes usually results in immediate aggression and nearly always results in high mortality (>50%). Encounters between groups of Reticulitermes of the same hydrocarbon phenotype seldom result in immediate aggression, but usually result in high mortality. These inter- and intraspecific bioassays consisted of pairings of a group of 10 workers with another group of 10 workers and describe the results of group behavior. Here we report individual worker behavior using 3 different cuticular hydrocarbon phenotypes of Reticulitermes: CA-A, CA-B, and CA-C. This bioassay will help us (1) understand whether group agonistic behavior is the result of one aggressive individual or many individuals, (2) identify variation among individuals confronted with conspecifics, (3) determine whether various colonies consist of more aggressive individuals than others, and (4) corroborate high levels of aggression between allospecifics.
Species 1: Isoptera Rhinotermitidae Reticulitermes sp (Subterranean termite)
Keywords: agonism, kin recognition
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA