Survival of Coptotermes testaceus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) to Environmental Conditions (Relative Humidity and Temperature) and Preference to Different Substrates

Cesar Orlando Pozo-Santiago, Manuel Pérez-De La Cruz, Magdiel Torres-De la Cruz, Aracely De La Cruz-Pérez, Silvia Capello-García, Minerva Aurora Hernández-Gallegos, José Rodolfo Velázquez-Martínez

Abstract


Coptotermes  testaceus (L.) (Rhinotermitidae) is a subterranean termite species that causes damage in urban and agricultural areas in the neotropics. Despite its economic importance,  there  are  no  studies  on  its  basic  biological  aspects  for  laboratory management and the development of strategies for its control. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relative humidity, temperature, substrate moisture and preference to different wood substrates for the best C.  testaceus survival under laboratory conditions. For this, a range of eight relative humidity (from 9 to 100%), three temperatures (20, 25 and 30 °C), six substrates (Pinus sp, Cedrela  odorata  (L.), Cocos nucifera (L.), Eucalyptus urophylla (S. T. Blake), Haematoxylum campechianum (L.) and Tabebuia rosea [Bertol.] DC) and four substrate moistures, (0 to 60%) were tested. The results of this study indicated a significant effect of all factors on termite survival or termite preference. When tested independently, the highest survival percentage of C.testaceus was obtained with humidity of 100%, temperature of 20 °C, substrate moisture of 60% and the Eucalyptus  urophylla substrate, reaching 83.33% survival at 21 days of observation. With these preliminary assays on small termite groups, it is concluded that with the appropriate percentages of humidity, temperature and substrate and the interaction of these three factors, further research can be conducted using larger termite groups in biologically relevant conditions, in order to study various aspects of C. testaceus biology.

Keywords


termite, underground; woods; agricultural; control; eucalyptus

Full Text:

PDF

References


Amaral-Castro, N. R., Zanetti, R., Moraes, J. C., Zanuncio, J. C., Freitas, G. D., & Santos, M. S. (2004). Species of soil inhabiting termites (Insecta: Isoptera) collected in Eucalyptus plantations in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Sociobiology, 44(3): 717-726.

Apolinário, F. E., & Martius, C. (2004). Ecological role of termites (Insecta, Isoptera) in tree trunks in central Amazonian rain forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 194(1-3): 23-28. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2004.01.052.

Bandeira, A. G., Gomes, I., Lisboa, B., Souza, S. (1989). Insetos pragas de madeiras de edificações em Belém-Pará. Embrapa Amazônia. Oriental-Séries anteriores (INFOTECA-E).

Bignell, DE & Eggleton, P (2000). Termites in ecosystems. In T Abe, DE Bignell y M Higashi (Eds), Termites: Evolution, sociality, symbioses, ecology (pp. 363-388). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Chouvenc, T., LI, H. F., Austin, J., Bordereau, C., Bourguignon, T., Cameron, S. L. & Evans, T. A. (2016). Revisiting Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae): a global taxonomic road map for species validity and distribution of an economically important subterranean termite genus. Systematic Entomology, 41(2): 299-306. doi: 10.1111/syen.12157.

Fei, H., & Henderson, G. (2002) Formosan subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) wood consumption and worker survival as affected by temperature and soldier proportion. Environmental Entomology, 31(3): 509-514. doi: 10.1603/0046-225X-31.3.509.

Gautam, B. K., & Henderson, G. (2011). Wood consumption by Formosan subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) as affected by wood moisture content and temperature. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 104: 459-464. doi: 10.1603/AN10190.

Gautam, B. K., & Henderson, G. (2014). Water transport by Coptotermes formosanus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Environmental entomology, 43: 1399-1405. doi: 10.1603/EN14096.

Hu, J., Neoh, K. B., Appel, A. G., & Lee, C. Y. (2012). Subterranean termite open-air foraging and tolerance to desiccation: Comparative water relation of two sympatric Macrotermes spp. (Blattodea: Termitidae).

Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 161: 201-207. doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2011.10.028.

Kollmann, F (1959). Tecnología de la madera y sus aplicaciones. Ministerio de Agricultura, Madrid, España. 675 p.

Krishna, K., Grimaldi, D.A., Krishna, V. & Engel, M.S. (2013). Treatise on the Isoptera of the World: Vol.1. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 377: 1–200. doi: 10.1206/377.7.

Lenz, M (2005). Laboratory bioassays with termites-the importance of termite biology. In K Tsunoda (Eds.), Proceeding the 2ª conference of pacific rim termite research group on wood protection (pp. 53-60). Bangkok, Thailand.

López-Vera, E. E., Hernández-Pérez, L., López-Corzo, A., Sámano-Garduño, D., & Domínguez-Monge, S. (2018). Primer Registro de Coptotermes testaceus Afectando Maíz (Zea mays L.) en el Estado de Campeche, México. Southwestern Entomologist, 43(3): 811-814. doi: 10.3958/059.043.0330.

McManamy, K., Koehler, P. G., Branscome, D. D., & Pereira, R. M. (2008). Wood moisture content affects the survival of eastern subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), under saturated relative humidity conditions. Sociobiology, 52: 145-156.

Nakayama, T., Yoshimura, T., & Imamura, Y. (2004). The optimum temperature-humidity combination for the feeding activities of Japanese subterranean termites. Journal of Wood Science, 50: 530-534. doi: 10.1007/s10086-003-0594-y.

Ramírez, C., & Lanfranco, D. (2001). Descripción de la biología, daño y control de las termitas: especies existentes en Chile. Bosque, 22: 77-84. doi: 10.4206/bosque.2001.v22n2-08.

Santos, G. P., Zanuncio, J. C., Anjos, N. D., & Zanuncio, T. V. (1990). Danos em pavoamentos de Eucalyptus grandis pelo cupim de cerne Coptotermes testaceus Linnée, 1985 (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Revista Arvore, 14(2): 155-163.

Scheffrahn, R. H. (1991). Allelochemical resistance of woods to termites. Sociobiology, 19: 257-281.

Shimada, K., & Maekawa, K. (2010). Changes in endogenous cellulase gene expression levels and reproductive characteristics of primary and secondary reproductives with colony development of the termite Reticulitermes speratus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Journal of Insect Physiology, 56: 1118-1124. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2010.03.011.

Smythe, R. V., & Carter, F.L. (1969). Feeding responses to sound wood by the eastern subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 62: 335-337. doi: 10.1093/aesa/62.2.335.

Su, N., & Tamashiro, M. (1986). Wood-consumption rate and survival of the Formosan subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) when fed one of six woods used commercially in Hawaii. Hawaiian Entomological Society, 26: 109-113. URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10125/1120.

Wiltz, B. (2012). Effect of temperature and humidity on survival of Coptotermes formosanus and Reticulitermes flavipes (Isoptera:Rhinotermitidae). Sociobiology, 59: 381-394. doi: 10.13102/sociobiology.v59i2.883.

Wong, N., & Lee, C. Y. (2010). Effects of disturbance and the presence of termite and other invertebrate carcasses at feeding sites on the behavior of the subterranean termite Microcerotermes crassus (Blattodea: Termitidae). Sociobiology, 55: 353-368. URL: http://www.chowyang.com/uploads/2/4/3/5/24359966/119.pdf

Zabel, R. A & Morrell, JJ (1992). Wood Microbiology: Decay and Its Prevention. Academic Press, London, 467 p.

Zukowski, J., & Su, N. Y. (2017). Survival of termites (Isoptera) exposed to various levels of relative humidity (RH) and water availability, and their RH preferences. Florida Entomologist, 100: 532-539. doi: 10.1653/024.100.0307.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v67i3.5141

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


JOURNAL METRICS

 

JCR Impact Factor (2019): 0.690

JCR 5-year Impact Factor (2019): 0.846

Google Scholar h5-index (Insects and Arthropods journals): 12 

Scimago h-index (whole journal circulation period): 37         

Scopus CiteScore (2016-2019): 0.90

Mean time for editorial decision (2020): 78 days

Mean time for article publication (2020): 171 days

 

Sociobiology is indexed in the following databases: