Meeting Abstract

P1.65  Thursday, Jan. 3  The effects of micronutrients on the foraging behavior of the termite Reticulitermes flavipes BOTCH, PS*; JUDD, TM; Southeast Missouri State University; Southeast Missouri State University psbotch@semo.edu

The subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) has a diet consisting primarily of cellulose, which is low in nutritional value. In a forested environment, subterranean termites build tunnel galleries that spread out from a main underground colony to decaying logs on the surface. Studies have suggested that R. flavipes will non-randomly build galleries when searching for food sources and selectively forage for wood with higher nutrient value. There is also evidence that subterranean termites can follow thermal shadows and sense volatiles emanating from decaying logs in order to locate food sources at surface. Little is known, however, of the role that micronutrients within soils might play in the foraging and tunneling behavior of R. flavipes. We measured the concentration of several micronutrients in soils under decomposing logs containing termites, soils under logs with no termites, and soils where no logs were present in a forested area to determine if a micronutrient gradient exists under decaying logs. We predicted that R. flavipes would build galleries in soil substrates containing those micronutrients that showed a gradient versus soils without To test this prediction, plastic arenas were constructed using a Y-maze design, in which one side contained a 50:50 sand-topsoil mixture enriched with a micronutrient, and the other side contained non-enriched soil. Linear foraging distance was measured daily to determine if R. flavipes foraged towards micronutrient gradients.