Chemical variation in defensive secretions of four species of Nasutitermes |
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| Authors: | Thomas J Gush Barbara L Bentley Glenn D Prestwich Barbara L Thorne |
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| Institution: | 1. Ecology and Evolution Department, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794, U.S.A.;2. Chemistry Department, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794, U.S.A.;3. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Nineteen monoterpenes and 13 diterpenes were distinguished in soldier defensive secretions of four species of Nasutitermes. Samples of N. columbicus, N. corniger, N. ephratae and N. nigriceps were collected in Costa Rica and Panama. Interspecifically, these species can be differentiated by monoterpenes, which exhibit a complex pattern. Intraspecifically, there is detectable variation in monoterpenes and diterpenes, each of which allows discrimination of four populations of N. corniger. Similarity between two Pacific populations of N. corniger from different environments, a tropical dry forest and a rainforest, suggests there is no climatic influence on chemical compositions of defensive secretions. In addition, results from Costa Rica provide evidence that the Atlantic population of N. corniger is derived from Pacific populations. |
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| Keywords: | Termitidae Isoptera termites defensive secretions monoterpenoids diterpenoids interspecific variation intraspecific variation |
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