Detail Reproductive maturation in primary and secondary reproductives of the dampwood termite Zootermopsis angusticollis Hagen: The role of social signals and nutrition Bibliografi Author: Brent, Colin Sullivan ; Traniello, James F.A. (Advisor) Topik: BIOLOGY; ENTOMOLOGY Bahasa: (EN )    ISBN: 0-599-75482-6     Penerbit: Boston University     Tahun Terbit: 2001     Jenis: Theses - Dissertation Fulltext: 9970462.pdf (0.0B; 0 download) Abstract The effects of social stimuli and nutrition on reproductive maturation in female and male primary and secondary reproductives were studied in the dampwood termite Zootermopsis angusticollis Hagen. Differences in the development of reproductives induced under different colony conditions indicated that responses varied according to the social environment in which primary and secondary reproductives normally begin their reproductive lives. Heterosexually paired primaries normally found a new colony and cooperatively rear a single small brood. The primary male's assistance may be essential for offspring survival, and accordingly, primary female fecundity increased when nesting with a primary male, but was inhibited when nesting with another primary female. Primary male testes remained small regardless of the social stimuli to which males were exposed, probably because few sperm are needed to fertilize the eggs for the first brood. Adding larvae old enough to perform colony tasks to monogamous colonies promoted fecundity in both males and females, suggesting that primaries benefited energetically and/or nutritionally from larvae. Unlike primary reproductives, secondary reproductives stay in their natal nest and thus are guaranteed of having a fecund mate and larvae to perform tasks essential to colony growth. However, they begin with few endogenous resources for reproduction and are highly dependent on the assistance provided by larvae. Secondaries mature slowly when nesting in isolated heterosexual pairs. The largest contribution made by larvae to the fecundity of secondary reproductives is probably in the form of dietary nitrogen, a limiting nutrient. Secondary reproductives provided a diet supplemented with uric acid as a source of exogenous nitrogen exhibited increases in fecundity similar to those observed in secondaries nesting with larvae. The maturation of secondary females depended only on the presence of larvae and was unaffected by the presence of either male or female reproductives. In contrast, secondary males nesting without secondary females developed smaller testes, and when nesting with other secondary males showed asymmetries in testes size, which were correlated with differential rates of sperm production. The significance of these results to termite life history and the respective roles of these reproductive forms is discussed. Opini Anda Klik untuk menuliskan opini Anda tentang koleksi ini! Lihat Sejarah Pengadaan  Konversi Metadata   Kembali

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