Odontotermes formosanus

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Odontotermes formosanus
Inquilines of Odontotermes formosanus.webp
Inquilines of Odontotermes formosanus. (a) Cycloxenus sp. (Coleoptera: Cerylonidae), adult in dorsal view; (b) Cycloxenus sp., adult in ventral view; (c) larva of Cycloxenus sp.; (d) Ziaelas formosanus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae); (e) Clitelloxenia audreyae (Diptera: Phoridae); (f) Clitelloxenia formosana (Diptera: Phoridae); (g) Selenophora shimaidai (Diptera: Phoridae); (h) Pseudotermitoxenia nitobei (Diptera: Phoridae); (i) Horologiphora sinensis (Diptera: Phoridae); (j) Platystylea sp. (Thysanura: Nicoletiidae); (k) millipede (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Pyrgodesmidae).
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Infraorder: Isoptera
Family: Termitidae
Genus: Odontotermes
Species:
O. formosanus
Binomial name
Odontotermes formosanus
(Shiraki, 1909)
Synonyms [1]

Termes formosana

Odontotermes formosanus is a species of fungus-growing termite in the family Termitidae. It is native to southeastern Asia and was first described from Taiwan (then called Formosa). [1] This termite cultivates a symbiotic fungus in a special chamber in the nest. Workers and soldiers gather vegetable detritus which they bring back to the colony, chewing the material to a pulp to make a suitable substrate on which to grow the fungus. [2]

Contents

Distribution and habitat

Odontotermes formosanus has a widespread distribution in southeastern Asia, its range including Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and India. It is a common subterranean species and is a pest of forests, plantations and crops. It also forms nests in earthen dams, and can cause dams and dykes to collapse, as well as doing damage to the pipework. [3]

It should not be confused with the worldwide invasive species Coptotermes formosanus.

The colony

Major components of Odontotermes formosanus agriculture. (a) Swarming alates; (b) minor and major workers; (c) termite larvae and egg mass; (d) a fungus comb in situ in the soil, part of a large nest of O. formosanus; (e) an O. formosanus fungus garden (note that the dark upper layer is comprised of fresh plant material and the pale lower layer is aged and decomposed material). Major components of Odontotermes formosanus agriculture.webp
Major components of Odontotermes formosanus agriculture. (a) Swarming alates; (b) minor and major workers; (c) termite larvae and egg mass; (d) a fungus comb in situ in the soil, part of a large nest of O. formosanus; (e) an O. formosanus fungus garden (note that the dark upper layer is comprised of fresh plant material and the pale lower layer is aged and decomposed material).

A colony of Odontotermes formosanus consists of a number of large and small chambers forming the nest, linked by a complex of galleries; the queen is housed in one large chamber, and the main fungus comb occupies another, and there are several subsidiary fungus comb chambers nearby. [4]

Ecology

Like other members of the subfamily Macrotermitinae, Odontotermes formosanus have a symbiosis with a fungus in the genus Termitomyces which they cultivate in the nest. The older termites leave the nest to forage for suitable materials to use as substrate for the fungus. Younger workers remain in the nest where they chew up plant material brought in by the foragers, which becomes mixed with asexual spores of the fungus and bacteria in their gut. The resulting faeces are then deposited on the fungal comb. Older parts of the comb are then eaten by the termites. [5]

The termites travel as far as 35 m (115 ft) from the nest in their search for suitable materials to collect for their fungus comb. Searching is initiated by workers, or sometimes soldiers, which leave the nest area to forage in the open, often at night. The first explorers travel slowly and in due course returns to the nest, whether or not they have found food. The searching worker repeatedly touches the tip of its abdomen to the substrate to lay down a pheromone trail to guide other termites. The secretion produced contains two chemicals mixed together, and by varying the proportions of each chemical deposited, the explorers can provide extra information to the recipient termites, which are following the trail. When a suitable source is found, a circular gallery is built around it to ease its collection. Mud is used to make tubes over the trail along which the termites travel to and fro. [4]

Related Research Articles

Termite Social insects related to cockroaches

Termites are eusocial insects that are classified at the taxonomic rank of infraorder Isoptera, or as epifamily Termitoidae within the order Blattodea. Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are the sister group to wood eating cockroaches of the genus Cryptocercus. Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic. More recent estimates suggest they have an origin during the Late Jurassic, with the first fossil records in the Early Cretaceous. About 3,106 species are currently described, with a few hundred more left to be described. Although these insects are often called "white ants", they are not ants, and are not closely related to ants.

Leafcutter ant any of 47 species of leaf-chewing ants

Leafcutter ants, a non-generic name, are any of 47 species of leaf-chewing ants belonging to the two genera Atta and Acromyrmex. These species of tropical, fungus-growing ants are all endemic to South and Central America, Mexico, and parts of the southern United States. Leafcutter ants can carry twenty times their body weight and cut and process fresh vegetation to serve as the nutritional substrate for their fungal cultivates.

Fungus-growing ants Tribe of ants

Fungus-growing ants comprise all the known fungus-growing ant species participating in ant–fungus mutualism. They are known for cutting grasses and leaves, carrying them to their colonies' nests, and growing fungi on them on which they later feed.

Formosan subterranean termite Species of termite

The Formosan termite is a species of termite that has been transported worldwide from its native range in southern China to Taiwan, Japan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Hawaii, and the continental United States.

Blattodea Order of insects which includes cockroaches and termites

Blattodea is an order of insects that contains cockroaches and termites. Formerly, the termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetic and molecular evidence suggests an intimate relationship with the cockroaches, both cockroaches and termites having evolved from a common ancestor. The Blattodea and the mantises are now all considered part of the superorder Dictyoptera. Blattodea includes approximately 4,400 species of cockroach in almost 500 genera, and about 3,000 species of termite in around 300 genera.

<i>Atta sexdens</i> Species of ant

Atta sexdens is a species of leafcutter ant belonging to the tribe Attini, native to the New World, from the southern United States (Texas) to northern Argentina. They are absent from Chile. They cut leaves to provide a substrate for the fungus farms which are their principal source of food. Their societies are among the most complex found in social insects. A. sexdens is an ecologically important species, but also an agricultural pest. Other Atta species, such as Atta texana, Atta cephalotes and others, have similar behavior and ecology.

Macrotermitinae Subfamily of termites

Macrotermitinae, is subfamily of Termitidae. Fungus-growing termites species cultivate a fungal genus within Termitomyces for decomposing dead plant material externally within the colony(Note: All termite species decompose organic matter internally with the help of their gut microbiota rather than Macrotermitinae subfamily). Approximately 30 million years ago this subfamily starts to cultivate ancestor of Termitomyces. The real force or reasons to start the fungal domestication is not yet clear. Some gut microbiota based studies indicated that Macrotermitinae subfamily gut composition have close relationship with a cockroach species, both have similar gut microbial composition. This gut microbiota based evidence strongly supported by amber sample which found an ancestor species of both termites and cockroach. An ant family also cultivates fungus in their colony, known as fungus-growing ants, these ants also show a similar symbiotic life style of fungus-growing termites. Researcher believes that Macrotermitinae is the last formed termite groups because of their complex colony life style. For example: over-lapping caste system and age-depended polyethism. Moreover, this subfamily gut composed with bacterial community, rather than flagellates. These fungus growers might be encoded with natural antibiotics because colony does not shows infections so far.

<i>Acromyrmex</i> Genus of ants

Acromyrmex is a genus of New World ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae. This genus is found in South America and parts of Central America and the Caribbean Islands, and contains 31 known species. Commonly known as "leafcutter ants" they comprise one of the two genera of advanced attines within the tribe Attini, along with Atta.

<i>Mycocepurus smithii</i> Species of ant

Mycocepurus smithii is a species of fungus-growing ant from Latin America. This species is widely distributed geographically and can be found from Mexico in the north to Argentina in the south, as well as on some Caribbean Islands. It lives in a variety of forested habitats and associated open areas. Two studies published in 2009 demonstrated that some populations of the species consist exclusively of females which reproduce via thelytokous parthenogenesis. A detailed study found evidence of sexual reproduction in some populations in the Brazilian Amazon. Accordingly, M. smithii consists of a mosaic of sexually and asexually reproducing populations. In asexual populations all ants in a single colony are female clones of the queen. Inside the colony, the ants cultivate a garden of fungus grown with pieces of dead vegetable matter, dead insects, and insect droppings.

<i>Macrolepiota albuminosa</i> Species of agaric fungus in the family Agaricaceae that is an obligate symbiont of termites

Macrolepiota albuminosa, or termite mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Agaricaceae that is an obligate symbiont of termites. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) of the fungus are edible. It is found growing from termitaria in grassy fields, on hillsides, and in forest borders in China, Vietnam, India and elsewhere.

<i>Macrotermes bellicosus</i> Species of insect

Macrotermes bellicosus is a species of Macrotermes. It is the largest termite known, with queens measuring about 4.2 inches (110 mm) long, workers about 0.14 in (3.6 mm) and soldiers are slightly larger. Bellicosus means "combative" in Latin. The species is a member of a genus indigenous to Africa and South-East Asia.

<i>Temnothorax</i> Genus of ants

Temnothorax is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. It contains more than 350 species.

Cyatta is a genus of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae containing the single species Cyatta abscondita. It is considered the most recent ancestor of all fungus-farming ants and a living fossil.

<i>Termitotrox cupido</i> Species of beetle

Termitotrox cupido is a species of scarab beetle in the subfamily Termitotroginae. It was first described by Munetoshi Maruyama in 2012, having been discovered living inside a nest of the termite Hypotermes makhamensis in Cambodia. It is a tiny, blind and flightless insect.

Hypotermes makhamensis is a species of termite in the subfamily Macrotermitinae of the family Termitidae. It lives in dry evergreen forests in tropical south-eastern Asia and builds termite mounds in which it cultivates fungus for use as food.

<i>Coptotermes</i> Genus of termites

Coptotermes is a genus of termites in the family Rhinotermitidae. There are about seventy-one species, many of which are economically destructive pests. The genus is thought to have originated in southeastern Asia. Worker termites from this genus forage underground and move about in roofed tunnels that they build along the surface.

<i>Ascosphaera callicarpa</i> Species of fungus

Ascosphaera callicarpa is a fungus common on the larval feces of the solitary bee Chelostoma florisomne, which nests in the Phragmites reeds of thatched roofs in Europe.

Social immunity

Social immunity is any antiparasite defence mounted for the benefit of individuals other than the actor. For parasites, the frequent contact, high population density and low genetic variability makes social groups of organisms a promising target for infection: this has driven the evolution of collective and cooperative anti-parasite mechanisms that both prevent the establishment of and reduce the damage of diseases among group members. Social immune mechanisms range from the prophylactic, such as burying beetles smearing their carcasses with antimicrobials or termites fumigating their nests with naphthalene, to the active defenses seen in the imprisoning of parasitic beetles by honeybees or by the miniature 'hitchhiking' leafcutter ants which travel on larger worker's leaves to fight off parasitoid flies. Whilst many specific social immune mechanisms had been studied in relative isolation, it was not until Sylvia Cremer et al.'s 2007 paper "Social Immunity" that the topic was seriously considered. Empirical and theoretical work in social immunity continues to reveal not only new mechanisms of protection but also implications for understanding of the evolution of group living and polyandry.

<i>Odontotermes</i> Genus of termites

Odontotermes, commonly known as the fungus-growing termites, is a termite genus belonging to family Termitidae, which is native to the Old World. They are most destructive in wooden homes, and are agricultural pests in the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia.

<i>Odontotermes obesus</i> Species of termite

Odontotermes obesus is a species of termite in the family Termitidae. It is native to tropical southwestern Asia. This termite cultivates a symbiotic fungus in a special chamber in the nest. Workers gather vegetable detritus which they bring back to the colony, chewing up the material to make a suitable substrate on which the fungus will grow.

References

  1. 1 2 Snyder, Thomas Elliot (1949). Catalog of the Termites (Isoptera) of the World. Smithsonian Institution. pp. 227–228.
  2. Khan, Md. Aslam & Ahmad, Wasim (2017). Termites and Sustainable Management: Volume 2 – Economic Losses and Management. Springer. pp. 61–69. ISBN   978-3-319-68726-1.
  3. Huang, Qiuying; Sun, Pengdong; Zhou, Xuguo & Lei, Chaoliang (2012). "Characterization of head transcriptome and analysis of gene expression involved in caste differentiation and aggression in Odontotermes formosanus (Shiraki)". PLoS ONE. 7 (11): e50383. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050383 .
  4. 1 2 Wen, Ping; Ji, Bao-Zhong & Sillam-Dussès, David (2014). "Trail communication regulated by two trail pheromone components in the fungus-growing termite Odontotermes formosanus (Shiraki". PLoS ONE. 9 (3): e90906. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090906 .
  5. Otani, Saria; Hansen, Lars H.; Sørensen, Søren J. & Poulsen, Michael (2016). "Bacterial communities in termite fungus combs are composed of consistent gut deposits and contributions from the environment". Microbial Ecology. 71: 207–220. doi: 10.1007/s00248-015-0692-6 .