Termites are notoriously cryptic: infestations in houses are often discovered when an apparently intact timber object collapses, the archetypal 'falling through the floor boards'. This behaviour is adaptive because remaining undiscovered is the termite's primary defence against predators such as ants. However, being cryptic severely limits the ability of termites to explore their environment and assess potential food sources. Despite being blind and hidden, termites can assess a piece of wood swiftly after contacting only a small part of it (sometimes as little as a few square millimetres). Such ability has been a mystery. Unlike bees and ants, which have been found to use a range of visual, chemical and vibrational cues for communication, how information is collected and transmitted between termites is poorly known. In addition, the use of chemical communication by termites has been shown to be very limited compared to other social insects. While previous research showed that termite soldiers produce vibratory alarm signals to warn conspecific workers, the role of vibrations in termite foraging behaviour has scarcely been explored. Recent results are presented to demonstrate termites' ability to detect vibration signals and to use the information contained in these signals to make foraging decisions.
展开▼
