Xiong Hongpeng, Qin Wenquan, Wen Xiujun, Sun Zhaohui, Wang Cai
Guangdong Key Laboratory for Innovation Development and Utilization of Forest Plant Germplasm, College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
J Econ Entomol. 2018 Sep 26;111(5):2303-2311. doi: 10.1093/jee/toy181.
Subterranean termites often transport soil into bait stations. In this study, we hypothesize that adding soil or clay material in the bait may affect preference and performance of termites. Choice and no-choice tests were conducted in the laboratory to investigate the aggregation and feeding preference, survivorship, wood consumption, and body water percentage of termites in response to food containers (here we simulated the bait station by placing a wood block into a bigger plastic box with termite-entering holes on the wall) with the void space filled with soil (sandy clay loam), clay material (sodium bentonite), or remained unfilled. Choice tests showed that under low-moisture conditions, food containers filled with clay attracted significantly more termites (Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) and Reticulitermes guangzhouensis Ping (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae)) compared to food containers filled with soil, or unfilled. Under medium-moisture conditions, however, the percentages of termites that aggregated in the food containers filled with soil or clay were similar, and both were significant higher than the percentages in unfilled ones. In no-choice tests, the highest survivorship and wood consumption in C. formosanus were recorded under medium-moisture conditions and when food containers were filled with clay, whereas the lowest survivorship and wood consumption were recorded under low-moisture conditions and when food containers were filled with soil. Interestingly, presence of clay increased the body water percentage of termites. Our study enhances the understanding of the foraging ecology of subterranean termites, and may contribute to the improvement of termite-baiting technologies.
地下白蚁常常会将土壤搬运到诱饵站。在本研究中，我们假设在诱饵中添加土壤或黏土材料可能会影响白蚁的偏好和行为表现。我们在实验室中进行了选择试验和无选择试验，以研究白蚁在面对内部填充有土壤（砂质黏壤土）、黏土材料（钠膨润土）或未填充的食物容器（此处我们通过将木块放入墙上带有白蚁进入孔的较大塑料盒中来模拟诱饵站）时的聚集和取食偏好、存活率、木材消耗量以及体内水分百分比。选择试验表明，在低湿度条件下，与填充土壤的食物容器或未填充的食物容器相比，填充黏土的食物容器吸引了显著更多的白蚁（台湾乳白蚁（蜚蠊目：鼻白蚁科）和广州乳白蚁（蜚蠊目：鼻白蚁科））。然而，在中等湿度条件下，聚集在填充土壤或黏土的食物容器中的白蚁百分比相似，且两者均显著高于未填充食物容器中的百分比。在无选择试验中，台湾乳白蚁在中等湿度条件下且食物容器填充黏土时的存活率和木材消耗量最高，而在低湿度条件下且食物容器填充土壤时的存活率和木材消耗量最低。有趣的是，黏土的存在增加了白蚁的体内水分百分比。我们的研究增进了对地下白蚁觅食生态学的理解，并可能有助于改进白蚁诱饵技术。
