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A durable termite bait containing 0.5% noviflumuron was evaluated for physical durability, retention of active ingredient, consumption by termites, and toxicity to termites over 5 yr in field studies at locations in Indiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Plots in Indiana and Mississippi included both natural rainfall and irrigated plots, while plots in South Carolina received only natural rainfall. Samples collected every 3 mo for the first 4 yr were evaluated for consumption with a 7 d no-choice bioassay using Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar). Consumption and toxicity of 5 yr samples were evaluated in similar bioassays conducted for 42 d. Durable baits received from field sites had some cracking, and a small amount of external flaking, but no major deterioration based on visual observation. There were no significant differences in noviflumuron concentration over the 5-yr period and no trend toward reduced concentrations of noviflumuron over time. Consumption of aged durable baits over 4 yr was variable, but termites usually consumed more aged durable bait than fresh durable bait and the differences were frequently significant. There were some exceptions, but termites consumed significantly more fresh durable bait than aged durable bait in only 4% of observations. When 5 yr samples were evaluated, consumption was lowest for fresh durable bait and termites consumed significantly more aged durable bait from irrigated plots in Indiana and from both natural and irrigated plots in Mississippi than fresh durable bait. Survival of termites fed blank durable bait was significantly higher than that for termites fed any of the baits containing noviflumuron and there were no significant differences in survival among the noviflumuron durable baits. Our results suggest that the bait would be durable for at least 5 yr and possibly longer under most environmental conditions.

Standing dead trees (snags) decompose more slowly than downed dead wood and provide critical habitat for many species. The rate at which snags fall therefore influences forest carbon dynamics and biodiversity. Fall rates correlate strongly with mean annual temperature, presumably because warmer climates facilitate faster wood decomposition and hence degradation of the structural stability of standing wood. These faster decomposition rates coincide with turnover from fungal-dominated wood decomposer communities in cooler forests to codomination by fungi and termites in warmer regions. A key question for projecting forest dynamics is therefore whether temperature effects on wood decomposition arise primarily because warmer conditions facilitate faster decomposer metabolism, or are also influenced indirectly by belowground community turnover (e.g., termites exert additional influence beyond fungal-plus-bacterial mediated decomposition). To test between these possibilities, we simulate standing dead trees with untreated wooden posts and follow them in the field across 5 yr at 12 sites, before measuring buried, soil–air interface and aerial post sections to quantify wood decomposition and organism activities. High termite activities at the warmer sites are associated with rates of postfall that are three times higher than at the cooler sites. Termites primarily consume buried wood, with decomposition rates greatest where termite activities are highest. However, where higher microbial and termite activities co-occur, they appear to compensate for one another first, and then to slow decomposition rates at their highest activities, suggestive of interference competition. If the range of microbial and termite codomination of wood decomposer communities expands under climate warming, our data suggest that expansion will accelerate snag fall with consequent effects on forest carbon cycling and biodiversity in forests previously dominated by microbial decomposers.

Vibratory behaviours are widespread in social insects, but the produced vibrations remain poorly explored. Communication using vibrations is an efficient way to transmit information in subterranean environments where visual and odorant signals are less efficient. In termites, different vibratory behaviours are performed in different contexts like reproductive regulation and alarm signalling, but only few studies explored the structure of the produced vibrations (i.e., duration, number of pulses, amplitude). Here, we described several types of vibrations produced by a vibratory behaviour widespread in termites (body-shaking), which can be transmitted through the substrate and detected by other colony members. We analysed the structures of the emitted vibrations and the occurrence of the body-shaking events in presence/absence of reproductives and/or in presence/absence of a stress stimuli (flashlight) in the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes. Interestingly, only the presence of the reproductives did influence the number of pulses and the duration of the emitted vibrations. Moreover, the first part of the emitted vibrations seems to be enough to encode reproductive information, but other parts might hold other type of information. Body-shaking occurrence did increase in presence of reproductives but only briefly under a flashlight. These results show that vibratory cues are complex in termites and their diversity might encode a plurality of social cues.

Global change drivers such as habitat fragmentation, species invasion, and climate warming can act synergistically upon native systems; however, global change drivers can be neutralized if they induce antagonistic interactions in ecological communities. Deadwood comprises a considerable portion of forest carbon, and it functions as refuge, nesting habitat and nutrient source for plant, animal and microbial communities. We predicted that thermophilic termites would increase wood decomposition with experimental warming and in forest edge habitat. Alternately, given that predatory ants also are thermophilic, they might limit termite-mediated decomposition regardless of warming. In addition, we predicted that a non-native, putative termite-specialist ant species would decrease termite activity, and consequently decomposition, when replacing native ants. We tested these hypotheses using experimental warming plots (~ 2.5 °C above ambient) where termites, and their ant predators, have full access and vary in abundance at microscales. We found that termite activity was the strongest control on decomposition of field wood assays, with mass loss increasing 20% with each doubling of termite activity. However, both native and non-native ant abundance increased with experimental warming and, in turn, appeared to equally limit termite activity and, consequently, reduced wood decomposition rates. As a result, experimental warming had little net effect on the decomposition rates—likely because, although termite activity increased somewhat in warmed plots, ant abundances increased more than five times as much. Our results suggest that, in temperate southern U.S. forests, the negative top-down effects of predatory ants on termites outweighed the potential positive influences of warming on termite-driven wood decomposition rates.

Termites are eusocial insects related to cockroaches that feed on lignocellulose. These insects are key species in ecosystems since they recycle a large amount of nutrients but also are pests, exerting major economic impacts. Knowledge on the molecular pathways underlying reproduction, caste differentiation or lignocellulose digestion would largely benefit from additional transcriptomic data. This study focused on transcriptomes of secondary reproductive females (nymphoid neotenics). Thirteen transcriptomes were used: 10 of Reticulitermes flavipes and R. grassei sequenced from a previous study, and two transcriptomes of R. lucifugus sequenced for the present study. After transcriptome assembly and read mapping, we examined interspecific variations of genes expressed by termites or gut microorganisms. A total of 18,323 orthologous gene clusters were detected. Functional annotation and taxonomic assignment were performed on a total of 41,287 predicted contigs in the three termite species. Between the termite species studied, functional categories of genes were comparable. Gene ontology (GO) terms analysis allowed the discovery of 9 cellulases and a total of 79 contigs potentially involved in 11 enzymatic activities used in wood metabolism. Altogether, results of this study illustrate the strong potential for the use of comparative interspecific transcriptomes, representing a complete resource for future studies including differentially expressed genes between castes or SNP analysis for population genetics.

Cyclohexanone is a major precursor for nylon production and is also used as a pesticide solvent. In this study, cyclohexanone was evaluated as a fumigant against rice weevil adults, confused flour beetle adults, western flower thrips larvae and adults, spotted wing drosophila adults, and subterranean termite workers. Cyclohexanone fumigation was effective against all 5 insects, and there were considerable variations in susceptibility to cyclohexanone fumigation among the 5 species. At 20 °C, complete control of spotted wing drosophila adults was achieved in 1-h fumigation with 25 µl/l of cyclohexanone and complete control of eastern subterranean termite workers was achieved in 3-h fumigations with 50 µl/l dose of cyclohexanone. Stored-product insects confused flour beetle, and rice weevil adults were more tolerant to cyclohexanone fumigation. Fumigations of 24 h with 75 µl/l dose of cyclohexanone caused 100% mortality of rice weevil adults and 98% mortality of confused flower beetle adults. Even at a 100 µl/l dose, the 24-h fumigations did not achieve 100% mortality of confused flour beetle adults. At 5 °C, complete control of western flower thrips was achieved in 3- and 6-h fumigations with 100 and 50 µl/l doses of cyclohexanone, respectively. Cyclohexanone vapor concentrations were measured using cyclohexanone detector tubes. Vapor concentrations were far below the expected saturation concentration indicating that most cyclohexanone did not exist as vapor in fumigation chambers. The results of effective control of all 5 insect species suggest that cyclohexanone has the potential to be used as a fumigant for postharvest pest control.

Eastern subterranean termite,  Reticulitermes   flavipes  Kollar (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae), colonies forage from multiple wood and soil sources in a temperate climate. Thus, access to all nutrients may not be consistent throughout the year due to seasonal temperature changes. This study examined the changes in levels of protein, lipids, carbohydrates (simple sugars and glycogen), and amino acids in workers and soldiers during four different time intervals of the year (spring, early summer, late summer, and fall) when termites would be actively foraging. Workers and soldiers did show differences in nutrient levels and in both castes, levels of all nutrients did change seasonally. Based on the results of this study, both castes increase levels of protein, carbohydrates, and lipids as winter approaches. These findings suggest that termite soldiers may act as repletes for the colony.

We investigated the use of termite baiting, a proven system of targeted colony elimination, in an overall area-wide control strategy against subterranean termites. At two field sites, we used microsatellite markers to estimate the total number of Reticulitermes colonies, their spatial partitioning, and breeding structure. Termite pressure was recorded for two years before and after the introduction of Trelona® (active ingredient novaluron) to a large area of one of the sites. Roughly 70% of the colonies in the treatment site that were present at the time of baiting were not found in the site within two months after the introduction of novaluron. Feeding activity of the remaining colonies subsequently ceased over time and new invading colonies were unable to establish within this site. Our study provides novel field data on the efficacy of novaluron in colony elimination of Reticulitermes flavipes, as well as evidence that an area-wide baiting program is feasible to maintain a termite-free area within its native range.

Termites are not only decomposers in forest and savanna ecosystems, but also major pests of wooden buildings worldwide. Therefore, termites have long been of interest to researchers, and there has been a need for media for maintaining termites in the laboratory. Recently, a \"brown-rotted pinewood mixed cellulose\" (BPC) medium using the Japanese red pine ( Pinus densiflora ) was developed as a medium for long-term stable rearing of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes speratus . It is unclear whether the method of preparing the BPC medium can be applied to other termite species using different types of wood. Here, we developed two media for rearing two American termite species ( Reticulitermes flavipes and R. virginicus ): \"brown-rotted elm wood mixed cellulose\" (BEC) medium using winged elm ( Ulmus alata ) and BPC medium using loblolly pine ( P. taeda ). In colony foundation by R. flavipes dealates, about 80% of the incipient colonies on BEC and BPC media successfully produced larvae and workers, whereas less than 21% of the colonies on cellulose media did so. Long-term rearing of R. flavipes workers showed that the food consumption rate was higher on the BEC and BPC media than on the cellulose medium. On the other hand, long-term rearing of R. virginicus workers showed that the apparent digestibility coefficient was higher on the BPC medium than on the other media. These results indicate that the BEC and BPC media can be used for both colony foundation by dealates and rearing workers in R. flavipes , and that the BPC medium is more suitable for rearing R. virginicus workers. These new media and others made using the same process will contribute to the maintenance of termite colonies in the laboratory for a variety of experiments.

Damage from termite infestations is economically significant and control can be costly when requiring the widespread use of conventional insecticides. Erythritol, a polyalcohol sweetener that is safe for human consumption, causes increased mortality when ingested by some insects, indicating potential as a safe alternative insecticide. Here, we investigated the applicability of erythritol as a novel toxicant method of termite control. Eastern subterranean termites, Reticulitermes flavipes Kollar (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae), were fed paper foods treated with increasing concentrations of erythritol and were assessed for mortality and bait consumption. Termite survival to 8 d (the duration of the experiment) significantly decreased as erythritol treatment concentration increased, indicating that the lethal effects of erythritol were concentration-dependent. Termites consumed erythritol-treated paper at all concentrations and did not display avoidance in choice assays, suggesting that erythritol may be practical for use as an ingestible bait. These results provide a basis for further development of erythritol as a safe alternative method of termite control.