Cornelius Mary L
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southern Regional Research Center, 1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70124, USA.
Insects. 2012 Mar 23;3(2):367-77. doi: 10.3390/insects3020367.
This study examines the individual behavior of workers of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shirkai, on two consecutive days of tunnel construction. In each trial, a group of 30 termite workers was observed continuously during the first 60 min of construction of a new tunnel on two consecutive days. On each day, an average of 68% of individuals did not participate in tunnel construction, 19% spent < 25 min tunneling, and 13% spent ≥ 25 min tunneling. There were specific individuals that did most of the work in the construction of new tunnels on both days. An individual that spent at least 25 min tunneling on Day 1 was significantly more likely to spend at least 25 min tunneling on Day 2 than individuals that spent < 25 min tunneling on Day 1. When individuals were ranked based on the time spent tunneling on Day 1 and Day 2, there were individuals ranked as one of the top four excavators on both days in three of the four groups. These results indicate that there is evidence of task allocation by termite workers during the construction of a new tunnel.
本研究考察了台湾乳白蚁（Coptotermes formosanus Shirkai）工蚁在连续两天筑巢过程中的个体行为。在每次试验中，一组30只白蚁工蚁在连续两天新建巢穴的前60分钟内被持续观察。每天，平均有68%的个体不参与筑巢，19%的个体筑巢时间少于25分钟，13%的个体筑巢时间不少于25分钟。在这两天新建巢穴的过程中，有特定的个体完成了大部分工作。与第一天筑巢时间少于25分钟的个体相比，第一天筑巢时间至少为25分钟的个体在第二天筑巢时间至少为25分钟的可能性显著更高。当根据第一天和第二天的筑巢时间对个体进行排名时，在四组中的三组中，都有个体在两天内都被列为前四名挖掘者之一。这些结果表明，有证据表明白蚁工蚁在新建巢穴过程中存在任务分配现象。
