Traveling behavior of a termite in tunnels with different curvatures and base surface roughness

This study focused on understanding the termite traveling behavior. Artificial tunnels with different curvatures and base surface roughness were constructed. Each tunnel was 50 mm in length, with widths of W (W = 2, 3, or 4 mm). The distance between the two ends of the tunnel was D (D = 20, 30, 40, or 50 mm). A higher value of D means a lower curvature. The roughness, R (R = 60, 120, 240 and ∞), was generated by uniformly sanding the substrate with a sanding machine. A higher R value means a finer base surface. The symbol ∞ represents a smooth surface. Time (τ) taken by a termite to pass through the tunnel was measured. τ was longer in tunnels with a smooth surface compared with the tunnels with a rough surface. When W = 2, there was no effect of the roughness on speed. This is because the narrow tunnel width diluted the effects of the smoothness of the surface. When W = 3, τ was statistically shorter for R = 240, than for R = 60 and 120. This suggests that an appropriate surface roughness could positively contribute to the traveling speed.