| 要旨トップ | 目次 | 日本生態学会第59回全国大会 (2012年3月,大津) 講演要旨
ESJ59/EAFES5 Abstract


一般講演(ポスター発表) P1-229A (Poster presentation)

Influence of symbionts on feeding behaviour in a termite

*Yamamoto, Y. (Okayama Univ.), Matsuura, K. (Okayama Univ.)

Many organisms, especially insects, have symbiotic associations with microorganisms. Termite gut symbionts have been studied extensively, but little is known about their impact on their feeding behavior. The gut protozoa of lower termite are essential for their wood digestion. Here, we compared the wood feeding behaviour of the termite Hodotermopsis sjostedti between before and after the removal of microsymbionts. When a worker was simultaneously offered two types of food (pure pulp and glucose-containing pulp), symbiont-free workers fed significantly higher amount of glucose-containing pulp than of pure pulp. On the other hand, individuals with symbionts consumed pure pulp as much as glucose-containing pulp. Our study demonstrated that the removal of symbionts changed the feeding preference of termites and let them prefer glucose-containing food, suggesting that the symbionts control termite behavior. These findings provide a new insight that termite is a vehicle of microorganisms.


日本生態学会