Laboratório de Fitossanidade (FitLab), Instituto Federal de Mato Grosso, Cáceres, MT, Brazil.
Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
Environ Entomol. 2024 Aug 17;53(4):561-566. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvae037.
Termites are social insects with high species diversity in tropical ecosystems. Multivariate analysis with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and data interpretation can separate social insects belonging to different colonies of the same species. The objective of this study was to propose the use of discriminant analysis by partial least squares (PLS-DA) combined with NIRS to identify the colonial origin of the Syntermes grandis (Rambur, 1842) (Blattodea: Termitidae) in 2 castes. Six ground S. grandis colonies were identified and mapped; 30 workers and 30 soldier termites in each colony were submitted to spectral measurement with NIRS. PLS-DA applied to the termites' spectral absorbance was used to detect a spectral pattern per S. grandis colony by caste. PLS-DA regression with NIRS proved to be an approach with 99.9% accuracy for identifying the colonial origin of S. grandis workers and 98.3% for soldiers. The methodology showed the importance of qualitatively characterizing the colonial phenotypic response of this species. NIRS is a high-precision approach to identifying the colony origin of S. grandis workers and soldiers. The PLS-DA can be used to design ecological field studies to identify colony territorial competition and foraging behavior of subterranean termite species.
白蚁是热带生态系统中物种多样性很高的社会性昆虫。利用近红外光谱（NIRS）和数据分析的多元分析可以将属于同一物种不同群体的社会性昆虫分开。本研究的目的是提出使用偏最小二乘判别分析（PLS-DA）结合 NIRS 来识别 Syntermes grandis（Rambur，1842）（Blattodea：Termitidae）在 2 个群体中的群体起源。确定了 6 个地面 S. grandis 群体，并进行了标记；每个群体中的 30 只工蚁和 30 只兵蚁都接受了 NIRS 的光谱测量。应用于白蚁光谱吸收率的 PLS-DA 用于通过等级检测每个 S. grandis 群体的光谱模式。PLS-DA 与 NIRS 的回归证明，对于识别 S. grandis 工蚁的群体起源，该方法的准确率为 99.9%，对于士兵的准确率为 98.3%。该方法表明了定性表征该物种群体表型反应的重要性。NIRS 是一种高精度的方法，可以识别 S. grandis 工蚁和士兵的群体起源。PLS-DA 可用于设计生态实地研究，以识别地下白蚁物种的群体领地竞争和觅食行为。
