The Unusual Neotenic System of the Asian Dry Wood Termite, Neotermes koshunensis (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae)

<p>In most lower termites, colonies are headed by neotenic reproductives of both sexes after the primary reproductives (i.e., the queen and king) are lost. The production of a neotenic sexual is inhibited by the presence of a primary reproductive of the same sex. We found an exception in the c...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Yasushi Miyaguni, Koji Sugio, Kazuki Tsuji
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/bedd2ba9b3684d81a61f7d7f84632dcf
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:<p>In most lower termites, colonies are headed by neotenic reproductives of both sexes after the primary reproductives (i.e., the queen and king) are lost. The production of a neotenic sexual is inhibited by the presence of a primary reproductive of the same sex. We found an exception in the caste system of the dry wood termite <em>Neotermes koshunensis</em> (Kalotermitidae). The neotenic caste is exclusively male. Moreover, production of male neotenics is completely inhibited not only by the presence of a king but also by the presence of a queen. Therefore, it is likely to be difficult for <em>N. koshunensis </em>colonies to recover their reproductive pairs.</p>