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... Termites are eusocial cockroaches, which have received great attention due to their diversity of reproductive strategies. Although these novelties allow new interpretations concerning the mating biology of these insects, studies highlighting the structure of the reproductive system are limited to some termite lineages. Here we provide the first comparative analysis of the reproductive system of a ...
Blattodea; Isoptera; Neotropics; chemical analysis; chemical ecology; chemotypes; climate; gas chromatography; head; hexane; intraspecific variation; mass spectrometry; secretion; sesquiterpenoids; Brazil
Abstract:
... The composition of chemical weaponry of termite soldiers show interspecific and intraspecific variation. However, spatial effects on the qualitative and quantitative compositions of these substances in Neotropical termites are poorly known. Hexane extracts of heads and the defensive secretion of soldiers of Constrictotermes cyphergaster from four localities in Northeast Brazil were analyzed by gas ...
... Social insects' constructions are diverse and functionally flexible. We aimed to understand how termites modify their behavior and building material to change the function of a shelter tube. Construction behaviors of three termite species, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae), Odontotermes formosanus (Shiraki) (Blattodea: Termitidae), and Nasutitermes takasagoensis (Nawa) (B ...
Kei E. Fujimura; Tine Demoor; Marcus Rauch; Ali A. Faruqi; Sihyug Jang; Christine C. Johnson; Homer A. Boushey; Edward Zoratti; Dennis Ownby; Nicholas W. Lukacs; Susan V. Lynch
... Exposure to dogs in early infancy has been shown to reduce the risk of childhood allergic disease development, and dog ownership is associated with a distinct house dust microbial exposure. Here, we demonstrate, using murine models, that exposure of mice to dog-associated house dust protects against ovalbumin or cockroach allergen-mediated airway pathology. Protected animals exhibited significant ...
... Termites and fungi are the primary decomposers of dead wood. Interactions between wood-feeding termites and wood-rot fungi are inevitable given their shared food source. Termites have developed multiple defense strategies against infectious fungi, such as Metarhizium spp., that include antifungal proteins in their saliva and fungal inhibition properties in their gut. The antifungal properties of t ...
... Alimentary canals of higher termites are equipped with a complex structural segment consisting of mesenteric and proctodeal epithelial tissues, which is termed the mixed segment. To assess metabolic functions occurring in the mixed segment, Nasutitermes takasagoensis (Shiraki) transcriptomes were obtained from the mixed segment and adjacent gut regions (midgut and first proctodeal segment) and wer ...
... In recent decades, there has been a gradual increase in the prevalence of asthma. Various factors including environmental pollutants have contributed to this phenomenon. Plasticizer, di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) is one of the commonest environmental pollutants due to its association with plastic products. DEHP gets released from plastic products easily leading to respiratory exposure in humans ...
... The term 'puddling' includes feeding on (dried) mud and various excrements and secretions of vertebrates, and carrion. It is thought to be a form of supplementary feeding, not targeted at obtaining energy. Although the natural history of the puddling phenomenon in herbivorous arthropods becomes better known, it is still largely unclear how puddling (in particular for sodium) affects fitness despit ...
Ana Maria Costa-Leonardo; Iago Bueno da Silva; Vanelize Janei; Silvana Beani Poiani; José Roberto Aparecido dos Santos-Pinto; Franciele Grego Esteves; Mario Sérgio Palma
... Salivary glands are omnipresent in termites and occur in all developmental stages and castes. They function to produce, store, and secrete compounds, ranging from a feeding function to defensive mechanisms. Here, we provide a complete morphological overview of the salivary glands in the soldierless species Ruptitermes reconditus and R. xanthochiton, and the first proteomic profile of the salivary ...
... Termite societies are abundant in the tropics, and are therefore exposed to multiple enemies and predators, especially during foraging activity. Soldiers constitute a specialized defensive caste, although workers also participate in this process, and even display suicidal behavior, which is the case with the species Neocapritermes braziliensis. Here we describe the morphology, mechanisms of action ...
... Termites have developed many exocrine glands, generally dedicated to defence or communication. Although a few of these glands occur in all termite species, or represent synapomorphies of larger clades, others are morphological innovations of a single species, or a few related species. Here, we describe the nasus gland, a new gland occurring at the base of the nasus of Angularitermes soldiers. The ...
Blattodea; Golgi apparatus; Termitidae; anti-infective agents; arthropods; electron microscopy; micro-computed tomography; rough endoplasmic reticulum; secretion; ultrastructure; Western Africa
Abstract:
... Machadotermes is one of the basal Apicotermitinae genera, living in tropical West Africa. Old observations suggested the presence of a new gland, the intramandibular gland, in Machadotermes soldiers. Here, by combining micro-computed tomography, optical and electron microscopy, we showed that the gland exists in Machadotermes soldiers only as an active exocrine organ, consisting of numerous class ...