Termites assess wood size by using vibration signals

Theodore A Evans (1) , Joseph C. S. Lai (2) , Emilie Toledano (2) , Lee Mcdowall (2) , Sandrine T. Rakotonarivo (3) , Michael Lenz (1)

1 CSIRO Entomology [Canberra]
2 UNSW@ADFA - University of New South Wales - Australian Defence Force Academy
3 O&I - Ondes et Imagerie

Contrary to the common perception that termites are indiscrimi-nant eaters, termites choose their food carefully; however, the methods by which they choose food are not well understood. Using choice experiments and recordings of termites feeding on wooden blocks of different sizes, we show that worker drywood termites (Cryptotermes domesticus) use the resonant frequency of a block of wood to assess its size. Drywood termites showed differences in their response to vibration recordings of termites compared with artificially generated signals, suggesting that they can discriminate the source of vibration. Furthermore, fewer workers matured into neotenic reproductives when recorded termite signals were played, suggesting that vibration signals play an important role in termite communication.

Domaines: Biologie animale; Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Theodore A Evans, Joseph C. S. Lai, Emilie Toledano, Lee Mcdowall, Sandrine T. Rakotonarivo, et al.. Termites assess wood size by using vibration signals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2005, 102 (10), pp.3732-3737. ⟨10.1073/pnas.0408649102⟩. ⟨hal-01294743⟩