Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia, Departamento de Agronomia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil; Laboratório de Ecologia de Insetos, Departamento de Agronomia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
Laboratório de Ecologia de Insetos, Departamento de Agronomia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
Behav Processes. 2023 Jun;209:104887. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104887. Epub 2023 May 5.
In eusocial insects, alarm signaling is used to inform nestmates about threats such as predators, competitors, and pathogens. Such behavior is important for the survival of colonies. However, studies evaluating the effect of insecticides on the alarm in termites have not yet been reported. Here, we inspected the effects of insecticide on alarm communication in Nasutitermes corniger. Specifically, we test the following hypotheses: (1) termite groups exposed to insecticide imidacloprid increase the body shaking movements, displaying an alert behavior; and (2) the alert behavior displayed after exposition to insecticide is dose dependent. Bioassays were conducted evaluating the body shaking movements and walking activity of termite groups exposed and non-exposed to insecticide. Thereafter, body shaking movements were evaluated in groups submitted to different doses of insecticide. In general, exposing termite groups to insecticide resulted in significantly higher body shaking movements compared to non-exposed groups. There was a positive effect of imidacloprid doses on the shaking movements. Walking activity, however, decreases in those groups exposed to the insecticide. Our results demonstrate the existence of 'insecticide alert behavior' in N. corniger and it appears to be a previously unrecognized communication mechanism in termites that allows for reducing the intoxication risks in the colony.
在群居昆虫中，报警信号用于向巢内同伴发出有关威胁的信息，如捕食者、竞争者和病原体。这种行为对蚁群的生存很重要。然而，目前还没有关于杀虫剂对白蚁报警作用的研究。在这里，我们检查了杀虫剂对玉米象鼻虫报警通讯的影响。具体来说，我们检验了以下假设：（1）接触杀虫剂吡虫啉的白蚁群体增加身体抖动动作，表现出警觉行为；（2）暴露于杀虫剂后的警觉行为是剂量依赖性的。通过生物测定评估了接触和未接触杀虫剂的白蚁群体的身体抖动和行走活动。然后，我们评估了在不同剂量的杀虫剂下，白蚁群体的身体抖动运动。一般来说，接触杀虫剂的白蚁群体的身体抖动运动明显高于未接触的群体。吡虫啉剂量对抖动运动有积极的影响。然而，暴露于杀虫剂的白蚁群体的行走活动减少。我们的结果表明，玉米象鼻虫存在“杀虫剂警觉行为”，这似乎是白蚁中一种以前未被识别的通讯机制，可降低群体中毒的风险。
