Influence of Soldiers on Exploratory Foraging Behavior in the Formosan Subterranean Termite, Coptotermes formosanus...

Area of Science:

• Eusocial insect behavior
• Termite colony dynamics
• Foraging ecology

Background:

• Termites exhibit eusociality with distinct castes: reproductives, workers, and soldiers.
• Soldiers, specialized for defense, are costly to maintain and typically constitute <2% of colonies in some species.
• Previous research indicated soldiers enhance foraging in low-soldier proportion species (e.g., Reticulitermes).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of soldiers on exploratory foraging behavior in the Formosan subterranean termite (Coptotermes formosanus).
• To determine if high soldier proportions (approx. 10%) affect foraging efficiency in C. formosanus.

Main Methods:

• Controlled laboratory experiments using two-dimensional foraging arenas.
• Groups of 100 C. formosanus workers were combined with varying numbers of soldiers (0, 2, 10, or 30).
• Evaluated tunnel length, branching patterns, food interception, and food collected over 96 hours.

Main Results:

• No significant effect of soldier presence or proportion was observed on tunnel length.
• Soldiers did not influence the branch pattern of tunnels.
• Food source interception and the amount of food collected remained unaffected by soldier presence.

Conclusions:

• Formosan subterranean termites (Coptotermes formosanus) maintain efficient food exploration irrespective of soldier proportion.
• Unlike Reticulitermes species, soldier presence does not enhance or impede foraging in C. formosanus.
• Colony structure in C. formosanus may inherently support high foraging efficiency, independent of soldier caste influence.