In many eusocial insect societies developmental flexibility of workers to reproduce is largely reduced. Workers forego own reproduction and stay in their parental nest to raise siblings. However, in termites that spend their entire life in a single wood dwelling that serves both as shelter and as food (one-piece life type termites), development of workers is more flexibel. It seems to be a facultative tactic whether individuals remain as helpers in the parental nest or develop into reproductives that disperse to found their own colony. In the Australian termite, Cryptotermes secundus (Kalotermitidae), factors were studied that ultimately influenced this developmental decision between becoming a helper or a reproductive. The availability of food and the number of helpers already present at the nest seemed to influence this decision. The results indicate that the chances to gain future indirect fitness (due to raising of siblings), and maybe also direct fitness (due to inheritance of the parental nest), are important factors in the development of this termite.
Species 1: Isoptera Kalotermitidae Cryptotermes secundus (saw dust termite)
Keywords: caste, social orgaisation
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