Korb Judith
Biologie I, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
Naturwissenschaften. 2005 Jan;92(1):45-9. doi: 10.1007/s00114-004-0589-6. Epub 2004 Nov 23.
Social insect colonies are not the harmonious entities they were once considered. Considerable conflicts exist between colony members, as has been shown for Hymenoptera. For termites, similar studies are lacking, but aggressive manipulations have been claimed to regulate sexual development, and even to account for the evolution of workers. This study on a basal termite, Cryptotermes secundus (Kalotermitidae), suggests that the importance of aggressive manipulations in termites has been overemphasized. Wing-bud mutilations, a means proposed to regulate the development of dispersing sexuals (alates), seem to be artifacts of handling conditions that cause disturbance. Aggressive behaviors never occurred unless colonies were disturbed. Theoretical considerations further showed that the potential for intense conflict among termite nestmates is low compared to hymenopteran societies. Strong conflicts are only expected to occur over the replacement of natal reproductives that died, while less intense conflicts should exist over the development into alates when food in the colony becomes limiting. Accordingly, intracolonial aggressive interactions over replacement are common, whereas nestmates seem to manipulate alate development via proctodeal feeding when food resources decline. However, the latter is rather an honest signal than a manipulation because only the most competent prospective dispersers can impede the development of nestmates.
社会性昆虫群落并非如人们曾经认为的那样是和谐的整体。群落成员之间存在着相当大的冲突，膜翅目昆虫的情况就是如此。对于白蚁来说，类似的研究较少，但有观点认为攻击性操控可调节其性发育，甚至能解释工蚁的进化。这项针对基础白蚁种类——截头堆砂白蚁（木白蚁科）的研究表明，攻击性操控在白蚁中的重要性被过度强调了。翅芽残缺，这一被认为可调节扩散性个体（有翅成虫）发育的方式，似乎是处理条件导致干扰的产物。除非群落受到干扰，否则攻击性的行为从未发生过。理论分析进一步表明，与膜翅目社会相比，白蚁巢友间发生激烈冲突的可能性较低。仅在替代死亡的出生时的生殖蚁时，才预计会发生强烈冲突，而当群落中的食物变得有限时，在发育为有翅成虫的过程中存在的冲突则没那么激烈。因此，关于替代的群体内攻击性互动很常见，而当食物资源减少时，巢友们似乎通过直肠饲喂来操控有翅成虫的发育。然而，后者更像是一个诚实的信号而非一种操控，因为只有最有能力的潜在扩散者才能阻碍巢友的发育。
