Do termites avoid carcasses? Behavioral responses depend on the nature of the carcasses.

<h4>Background</h4>Undertaking behavior is a significant adaptation to social life in enclosed nests. Workers are known to remove dead colony members from the nest. Such behavior prevents the spread of pathogens that may be detrimental to a colony. To date, little is known about the etho...

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Autores principales:	Kok-Boon Neoh, Beng-Keok Yeap, Kunio Tsunoda, Tsuyoshi Yoshimura, Chow-Yang Lee
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/322c6fb7873c435c8308d0112f03480b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:322c6fb7873c435c8308d0112f03480b2021-11-18T07:20:16ZDo termites avoid carcasses? Behavioral responses depend on the nature of the carcasses.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0036375https://doaj.org/article/322c6fb7873c435c8308d0112f03480b2012-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22558452/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203<h4>Background</h4>Undertaking behavior is a significant adaptation to social life in enclosed nests. Workers are known to remove dead colony members from the nest. Such behavior prevents the spread of pathogens that may be detrimental to a colony. To date, little is known about the ethological aspects of how termites deal with carcasses.<h4>Methodology and principal findings</h4>In this study, we tested the responses to carcasses of four species from different subterranean termite taxa: Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and Reticulitermes speratus (Kolbe) (lower termites) and Microcerotermes crassus Snyder and Globitermes sulphureus Haviland (higher termites). We also used different types of carcasses (freshly killed, 1-, 3-, and 7-day-old, and oven-killed carcasses) and mutilated nestmates to investigate whether the termites exhibited any behavioral responses that were specific to carcasses in certain conditions. Some behavioral responses were performed specifically on certain types of carcasses or mutilated termites. C. formosanus and R. speratus exhibited the following behaviors: (1) the frequency and time spent in antennating, grooming, and carcass removal of freshly killed, 1-day-old, and oven-killed carcasses were high, but these behaviors decreased as the carcasses aged; (2) the termites repeatedly crawled under the aging carcass piles; and (3) only newly dead termites were consumed as a food source. In contrast, M. crassus and G. sulphureus workers performed relatively few behavioral acts. Our results cast a new light on the previous notion that termites are necrophobic in nature.<h4>Conclusion</h4>We conclude that the behavioral response towards carcasses depends largely on the nature of the carcasses and termite species, and the response is more complex than was previously thought. Such behavioral responses likely are associated with the threat posed to the colony by the carcasses and the feeding habits and nesting ecology of a given species.Kok-Boon NeohBeng-Keok YeapKunio TsunodaTsuyoshi YoshimuraChow-Yang LeePublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 4, p e36375 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Kok-Boon Neoh Beng-Keok Yeap Kunio Tsunoda Tsuyoshi Yoshimura Chow-Yang Lee Do termites avoid carcasses? Behavioral responses depend on the nature of the carcasses.
description	<h4>Background</h4>Undertaking behavior is a significant adaptation to social life in enclosed nests. Workers are known to remove dead colony members from the nest. Such behavior prevents the spread of pathogens that may be detrimental to a colony. To date, little is known about the ethological aspects of how termites deal with carcasses.<h4>Methodology and principal findings</h4>In this study, we tested the responses to carcasses of four species from different subterranean termite taxa: Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and Reticulitermes speratus (Kolbe) (lower termites) and Microcerotermes crassus Snyder and Globitermes sulphureus Haviland (higher termites). We also used different types of carcasses (freshly killed, 1-, 3-, and 7-day-old, and oven-killed carcasses) and mutilated nestmates to investigate whether the termites exhibited any behavioral responses that were specific to carcasses in certain conditions. Some behavioral responses were performed specifically on certain types of carcasses or mutilated termites. C. formosanus and R. speratus exhibited the following behaviors: (1) the frequency and time spent in antennating, grooming, and carcass removal of freshly killed, 1-day-old, and oven-killed carcasses were high, but these behaviors decreased as the carcasses aged; (2) the termites repeatedly crawled under the aging carcass piles; and (3) only newly dead termites were consumed as a food source. In contrast, M. crassus and G. sulphureus workers performed relatively few behavioral acts. Our results cast a new light on the previous notion that termites are necrophobic in nature.<h4>Conclusion</h4>We conclude that the behavioral response towards carcasses depends largely on the nature of the carcasses and termite species, and the response is more complex than was previously thought. Such behavioral responses likely are associated with the threat posed to the colony by the carcasses and the feeding habits and nesting ecology of a given species.
format	article
author	Kok-Boon Neoh Beng-Keok Yeap Kunio Tsunoda Tsuyoshi Yoshimura Chow-Yang Lee
author_facet	Kok-Boon Neoh Beng-Keok Yeap Kunio Tsunoda Tsuyoshi Yoshimura Chow-Yang Lee
author_sort	Kok-Boon Neoh
title	Do termites avoid carcasses? Behavioral responses depend on the nature of the carcasses.
title_short	Do termites avoid carcasses? Behavioral responses depend on the nature of the carcasses.
title_full	Do termites avoid carcasses? Behavioral responses depend on the nature of the carcasses.
title_fullStr	Do termites avoid carcasses? Behavioral responses depend on the nature of the carcasses.
title_full_unstemmed	Do termites avoid carcasses? Behavioral responses depend on the nature of the carcasses.
title_sort	do termites avoid carcasses? behavioral responses depend on the nature of the carcasses.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/322c6fb7873c435c8308d0112f03480b
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Do termites avoid carcasses? Behavioral responses depend on the nature of the carcasses.

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