Chez les insectes sociaux, les reproductrices doivent faire face à un dilemme entre coûts et bénéfices de la reproduction asexuée et sexuée. Récemment, il a été montré que les reines termites pouvaient résoudre ce dilemme en optant pour l’utilisation alternée de la reproduction asexuée et sexuée, en produisant des femelles secondaires néoténiques par parthénogenèse, et les ouvriers, soldats et futurs essaimants par reproduction sexuée. Cette stratégie, appelée AQS pour « Asexual Queen Succession », a été décrite chez trois termites souterrains xylophages de la famille des Rhinotermitidae. Deux espèces humivores appartenant à la famille des Termitidae et particulièrement abondantes en forêt néotropicale, Embiratermes neotenicus et Silvestritermes minutus (Syntermitinae), semblaient être des nouvelles candidates pour cette stratégie, car elles présentaient des nids menées par de nombreuses femelles néoténiques. Pour confirmer cette hypothèse et déterminer l’origine génétique de ces femelles, des castes stériles et des futurs essaimants, nous avons développé une banque de microsatellites spécifiques pour E. neotenicus et S. minutus, et génotypé une dizaine de colonies du site de Petit Saut en Guyane, pour chaque espèce. Nous avons confirmé que les castes stériles et les imagos étai ent issus pour la très grande majorité de reproduction sexuée, alors que les femelles néoténiques étaient issues de parthénogenèse avec fusion centrale, un mécanisme différent de celui décrit chez les Rhinotermitidae. La reconstruction détaillée du cycle de vie de S. minutus nous a permis de conclure que l’AQS, au-delà des bénéfices communs à toutes les espèces i.e. la succession de plusieurs générations de reproductrices sans dilution de la participation génétique de la reine fondatrice, l’augmentation du potentiel reproductif de la colonie et la prévention de la consanguinité chez les castes stériles et les imagos, permettait à cette espèce d’investir dans un seul évènement massif d’essaimage pendant un cycle de vie très court. D’autre part, nous avons réalisé une analyse de structuration génétique des colonies et des populations d’E. neotenicus et de S. minutus dans le but de comprendre les conséquences de la dispersion, des modalités d’appariement et de la participation des différents reproducteurs sur la consanguinité des colonies et la potentialité de colonisation de ces espèces. Pour environ 40 colonies de chaque espèce, nous avons montré que les reproducteurs fondateurs étaient très majoritairement non apparentés, et une absence de viscosité à une échelle locale (1 à 11 km), suggérant une dispersion importante des essaimants. De plus, seule une très faible structuration génétique a pu être détectée sur l’ensemble du site d’échantillonnage, indiquant des flux de gènes peu contraints / In social insects, reproductive females have to face a dilemma between costs and advantages of asexual and sexual reproduction. Recently, termite queens were shown to be able to solve this dilemma by using alternatively asexual and sexual reproduction, with the production of secondary neotenic females by parthenogenesis, and workers, soldiers and future alate reproductives by sexual reproduction. This strategy, called AQS for Asexual Queen Succession, was described in three subterranean xylophagous termites of the Rhinotermitidae family. Two soil-feeding species belonging to the Termitidae family, and particularly abundant in Neotropical forest, Embiratermes neotenicus and Silvestritermes minutus (Syntermitinae), seemed to be new candidates for this strategy since they showed colonies headed by numerous neotenic females. In order to confirm this hypothesis and determine the genetic origin of these females, of sterile castes and future imagoes, we developed specific microsatellite libraries for E. neotenicus and S. minutus, and genotyped about ten colonies for each species, on the site of Petit Saut in French Guiana. We confirmed that sterile castes and imagoes were mostly produced by sexual reproduction, while neotenic females were produced by parthenogenesis with central fusion, a mechanism different from that described in Rhinotermitidae species. The detailed reconstruction of S. minutus life cycle allowed us to conclude that AQS, in addition to advantages common to all species i.e. succession of queen generations with undiluted genetic input of the foundress, multiplication of reproductive potential of the colony and prevention of inbreeding in sterile castes and dispersers, would allow this species to optimize a single dispersal event within a very short life cycle. Otherwise, we realized an analysis of colony and population genetic structuration of both species in order to understand consequences of dispersion, mating strategies and parental allocation on inbreeding and colonization abilities of both species. For about 40 colonies of each species, we showed that most of founding reproductives were not related, and absence of genetic viscosity at a local scale (1 to 11 km) suggesting long dispersal flights of alates. Furthermore, only a weak genetic structuration was detected, indicating unfettered gene flows on the sampling site

O presente projeto é uma revisão taxonômica do gênero Dentispicotermes Emerson in Snyder, 1949 (Termitidae, Termitinae), que até o momento do início desse trabalho contava com cinco espécies, a saber: D. brevicarinatus (Emerson, 1950), D. conjunctus Araujo 1969, D. cupiporanga Bandeira & Cancello 1992, D. globicephalus (Silvestri, 1901) e D. pantanalis Mathews 1977, ocorrendo na Região Neotropical e agora, propõe-se oito novas espécies. Foram estudados cento e sessenta e duas amostras depositadas no Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo e amostras emprestadas de outras instituições. Foram descritos e fotografados os soldados, operários, alados de todas as espécies e também se descreveu e ilustrou o tubo digestório de operário que até então não havia sido estudado para o gênero. Elaborou-se uma chave dicotômica baseada na casta de soldado para a identificação de todas as espécies, mapas de distribuição geográfica e biologia do gênero. / The present project is a taxonomic revision of the genus Dentispicotermes Emerson in Snyder, 1949 (Termitidae, Termitinae), that until the beginning of this work had five species, namely: D. brevicarinatus (Emerson, 1950), D. conjunctus Araujo 1969, D. cupiporanga Bandeira & Cancello 1992, D. globicephalus (Silvestri, 1901) and D. pantanalis Mathews 1977, occurring in the Neotropical Region and now, eight new species are proposed. One hundred and sixty-two samples deposited at the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo and samples borrowed from other institutions were studied. Soldiers, workers, winged of all species were described and photographed, and the worker\'s digestary tube was described and illustrated, which until today had not been studied for the genus. A dichotomous key based on the soldier\'s caste was developed for the identification of all species, geographic distribution maps, and biology of the genus.

Thanks to the progress in genetic methods in population ecology, many critical discoveries were recently made in the field of reproductive strategies of social insect. Among them is the description of mixed reproductive strategies, combining advantages of sexual reproduction with thelytokous parthenogenesis. The queens of such species produce sterile castes through classical sexual process from fertilized eggs, while future queens develop asexually from unfertilized eggs. This original breeding system was first described in several genera of ants, but it was found very recently, that it is not restricted to social Hymenoptera, since it has been identified also in the phylogenetically remote eusocial clade of termites. Switching between the sexual process and thelytokous parthenogenesis, now known as Asexual Queen Succession (AQS), which enables a continuity of genetically almost identical queen generations after the death of the founding primary queen, was first reported only in one genus of lower termites, i.e. Reticulitermes. Recently, our research group participated at the identification of AQS in four other species from two subfamilies in higher termites. One of these species is Silvestritermes minutus. This species is locally abundant in French Guiana and lives in small, well shaped nests on...

This thesis reports on the number of individuals in Macrotermes natalensis (Hav.) colonies, their biomass and food consumption in the northern Kruger National Park (KNP). The ecology of M. natalensis is largely undocumented despite the abundance of colonies in southern African savannas. New approaches to mound excavation, sub-sampling and data management are introduced. Via the intracolonial demography of colonies the contribution of each caste in number or proportion is determined. Using this information in combination with body mass and mound density data, biomass per unit area has been computed indicating the importance of this termite in synecology. The measurement of food consumption gives further insight as to how much litter is removed, fragmented and redistributed as nutrients in the ecosystem. Mounds were completely excavated, termites collected by means of vacuuming, and colony size estimated by sub-sampling. It was estimated that, on average, small mounds contain more than 5 000, medium mounds more than 45 000, and large mounds more than 200 000 individual termites. A highly significant relationship between total number of individuals (N ) and mound height (h ) was found, given by lnN = 7.893 + 1.093h (r = 0.92). The proportion of soldiers was found to change as colonies grew larger. In order to derive biomass estimates, a statistical bootstrap procedure was carried out using three databases: body mass, colony population sizes and mound density. Live biomass for small, medium and large mounds was found to be 0.17, 1.40 and 4.16 kg. Dry/wet body mass ratios were established for workers (23.7 %), major soldiers (20.3 %), minor soldiers (35.3 %), nymphs (17.1 %), king (35.4 %) and queen (20.8 %). Average live and dry biomass was calculated to be 0.51 kg/ha (0.051 g/m2) and 0.11 kg/ha (0.011 g/m2). Geology, geomorphology, elevation, local relief, soil patterns and annual rainfall were the abiotic factors shown to be most influential in determining termite biomass, either directly or indirectly. Termite biomass is high in undulating areas where the elevation is 250-400 m, where granitic and rhyolitic soils occur, and where annual rainfall is high (650-700 mm) in the context of the region. Major workers fetch woody litter outside the nest through ingestion into the section of the crop and gizzard. Gut contents were dried, weighed, ashed and reweighed. The ash mainly represents soil particles. The ash-free mass of food that is consumed during a single foraging trip by a foraging individual is 0.166 ± 0.009 mg (CI). Frequency of foraging trips between the mound and food source was observed using translucent tubing. The annual food consumption is given by the formula 365mnp/t , where m = individual mass of ashed crop-gizzard contents, n = number of foraging major workers, p = daily foraging period, and t = individual time spent between nest and food source. Food consumption of this termite in the northern KNP is calculated to be 20.2 kg/ha/yr. It is shown that termites are primary decomposers and contribute to litter fragmentation and the recycling of nutrients into the soil. This thesis gives greater insight into aspects such as colony development, biomass investment and resource utilization of M. natalensis in the northern KNP. / Dissertation (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

Eucalyptus plantations can be managed under the cutting regime and retirement or coppice. After harvest there is the remnants’ accumulation of hard degradation culture, including the stump. This forest residue can be a micro-habitat and abundant food source for termites. The identification of termites’ species that occur at stumps can be a viable alternative to accelerate the process of degradation, assisting in partial or total removal. The aim of the study was to identify species of termites in stumps of Eucalyptus urograndis and evaluate its biodegradation in areas with two and four years old after cutting. The study was conducted in two areas, with aftercut ages of two and four years, located in the city of Entre Rios, Bahia, Brazil. The stumps were fragmented, with the aid of a cutter, and termites collected and deposited in 15 ml Falcon tubes, containing 80% alcohol. The termites were identified by key taxonomic aid and comparisons among copies from the base collection of Forest Entomology Laboratory of the Federal University of Sergipe, and the Zoology Museum of the University of Sao Paulo. The measurement of the diameter and height of the stumps were performed before and after fragmentation. After this measurement, the initial volume and the final volume of the stumps were calculated, to determine their biodegradation. To evaluate stumps’ biodegradation in the aftercut ages, data were analyzed by SAS 9.0 software, using the ANOVA for comparison. Seven species of termites, which belongs to four genera in the Termitidae family, were collected. Nasutitermes corniger, N. kemneri and Amitermes amifer were dominants. In the stumps biodegradation analysis was verified a significant difference between the afetrcut ages of two and four years. It is possible to find termites in stumps of Eucalyptus urograndis foraging alone or associated with other species. They are able to biodegrade stumps of Eucalyptus urograndis areas aged two and four years after cutting. There is an increasing trend in biodegradation of the stumps in area with higher post-crop age, as observed in the area with four years of age. / As plantações de eucalipto podem ser manejadas sob o sistema de alto fuste ou em talhadia, sendo que após a colheita há o acúmulo de restos da cultura de difícil degradação, incluindo o toco. Este resíduo florestal pode representar um micro-habitat e recurso alimentar abundante para cupins. A identificação das espécies de cupins que ocorrem em tocos pode ser uma alternativa viável para acelerar o seu processo de degradação, auxiliando na remoção parcial ou total dos tocos. O objetivo do estudo foi identificar espécies de cupins em tocos de Eucalyptus urograndis e avaliar a sua biodegradação em áreas com dois e quatro anos de idade após o corte do primeiro ciclo de plantação. O estudo foi conduzido em duas áreas, com idades de dois e quatro anos após o corte, localizadas no município de Entre Rios, Bahia, Brasil. Os tocos foram fragmentados, com auxílio de um facão, e os cupins coletados e depositados em tubos Falcon 15 ml, contendo álcool 80%. Os cupins foram identificados com auxílio de chave taxonômica e comparação com exemplares da coleção base do Laboratório de Entomologia Florestal, da Universidade Federal de Sergipe, e do Museu de Zoologia, da Universidade de São Paulo. A medição do diâmetro e altura dos tocos foi realizada, antes e após a sua fragmentação. Após esta medição, foi calculado o volume inicial e o volume final dos tocos. Para avaliar a biodegradação de tocos, os dados foram convertidos para porcentagem e analisados pelo programa SAS 9.0, usando para comparação a ANAVA. Foram coletadas sete espécies de cupins, pertencentes a quatro gêneros, da família Termitidae. Nasutitermes corniger, N. kemneri, e Amitermes amifer foram dominantes. Na análise de biodegradação dos tocos houve diferença significativa entre as idades de dois e quatro anos, sendo a biodegradação maior na área com quatro anos de idade após o corte. É possível encontrar espécies de cupins em tocos de Eucalyptus urograndis, sejam forrageando isoladamente ou associações com outras espécies, sendo elas capazes de biodegradar tocos de Eucalyptus urograndis nas áreas com idade de dois e quatro anos após o corte. Há uma tendência de aumento na biodegradação dos tocos em área com maior idade após o corte, como constatado na área com quatro anos de idade.