Death recognition and undertaking behavior in termites

Insect societies have evolved death recognition to initiate undertaking behavior, which is an essential adaptation to social living. In ants, this unique hygienic behavior is elicited by the changing of surface chemical profiles after death, but little is known about the specific chemical cues in termites. In a subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, workers employ different undertaking strategies toward corpses of various decaying status, specifically, workers retrieved and digested newly deceased nestmates, whereas opted to bury aged corpses that were highly decayed. In this study, temporal profiles of death-related chemicals, including both volatiles (long-distance cue) and non-volatiles (contact cue), were investigated through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that termite surface chemicals were changed with time after death. Using an integrate approach combining behavioral bioassay with chemical ecology, chemical cues potentially associated with the undertaking behaviors in R. flavipes were identified.