PHYSIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL ECOLOGY Trail-Following Behavior of Coptotermes formosanus and Reticulitermes flavipes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae): Is There a Species-Specific Response?

Bioassayswere conducted to examine the response ofCoptotermes formosanus Shiraki andReticulitermesflavipes(Kollar) towholebodyextractsof termites.Bioassayswerealsoconducted to determine if trail-following behavior could be elicited in glass tubes after different lengths of exposure to termites and if termites showed any species-speciÞc response to exposed tubes. Trailfollowing behaviorwas elicited in both species in response towhole body extracts of their nestmates. Although C. formosanus responded to the R. flavipes extract, R. flavipes did not show a difference in response to theC. formosanus extract versus solvent-treated controls. Trail-followingbehaviorwas elicited in both C. formosanus and R. flavipes by glass tubes exposed to termites for 5 min. Although neither species showed a preference for glass tubes exposed to their nestmates over tubes exposed to termites of the other species, there were differences in the persistency of trail-following substances deposited in tubes by the two species. When tubes were exposed to termites for 5 min, trail-following behavior was elicited by tubes exposed toC. formosanus for at least 1 h after exposure, whereas termites no longer responded to tubes that were exposed to R. flavipes 10Ð15 min after exposure.When tubeswere exposed to termites for 14 d, termites deposited chemicalmarkerswhich lasted for at least 8 d. There was no difference in the response of C. formosanus to tubes exposed to their nestmates versus tubes exposed to R. flavipes. However, R. flavipes showed a signiÞcant preference for tubes exposed to their nestmates over tubes exposed to C. formosanus. Because there was no evidence of a species-speciÞc response by R. flavipes to tubes exposed to termites for only 5 min, it is possible that chemicals in the feces or in salivary secretions deposited in tubes inßuenced the behavior of R. flavipes in tests using tubes exposed to termites for 14 d.